HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Bubba Wallace has had speed all year; he hasn’t gotten the finishes to show for it.
That all changed Sunday (March 23) at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as Wallace led 56 laps and challenged for the win in the final stage before finishing third behind the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman.
“It’s about f***ing time we got [a good finish],” Wallace said.
With new crew chief Charles Denike on top the box, Wallace has scored the third-most stage points of all drivers this season. All that speed had only translated one top 10 and an average finish of 23.0 in the first five races, but their fortunes finally turned in race number six, as Wallace and the No. 23 team executed a near flawless race.
“We know we can do it,” Wallace continued. “… I thought today, we had to fight for it. We fired off just OK, and I said, ‘hey, I want clean air. I want good track position,’ and my pit crew is solid. They got us up there, gave me a shot, had a good restart, and then it was game on from there.”
Wallace had the lead with 35 to go, but a mistake allowed Bowman to take the lead after a grueling battle for the top spot. Larson soon blew the doors off both of them, and Wallace finished nearly six seconds behind the No. 5 car by the time the checkered flag waved.
“My plan was hopefully they got to racing a little bit, but I messed up, and Bowman messed up the same way I did and gave it to [Larson],” Wallace explained. “So that’s what I told him, I walked up to Bowman after, I said we both suck.”
Wallace leaves Homestead seventh in Cup points, and while his winless streak is up to 85 races, he continues to get inch closer and closer to the ultimate goal of returning to victory lane.
“It’s just good to come out of here with a little bit of weight off your shoulders and good points day,” Wallace said. “I truly believe in this team and the direction that we’re heading.”
23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, who finished fifth, agrees.
“We feel like we got a game changer there in Charles [Denike] that is getting the best out of Bubba,” Hamlin said. “Their cars are fast. I would contend the 23XI cars in general are just really fast, so I think they got really fast cars, and Bubba’s putting it together. He’s putting in the work, and obviously it’s showing with the results right now.”
And with a 23XI team where Tyler Reddick has largely dominated the headlines since his 2023 debut, Wallace has shown that he too is a force to be reckoned with this season.
I’m about tired of y’all talking about the No. 45 (Reddick) each and every week,” Wallace said. “Talk about No. 23 a little bit.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf