Bubba Wallace drops a bold statement on his potential amid 23XI’s ‘difficult’ shakeup: “I don't feel like I've reached my peak yet, nowhere near it”

Recently, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was featured in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch.90) and opened up about the tough decision to switch crew chief for the 2025 season. He switched from Bootie Barker to Charles Denike and won the Duel 1 race at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday for the Daytona 500 race scheduled for Sunday.

Wallace debuted in the Cup Series in 2017 with Richard Petty Motorsports and drove the #43 number for the team. However, during his time with the team, he scored no wins and moved to 23XI Racing in 2021. Wallace secured his first win in his rookie season with the team at Talladega Superspeedway.

During the interview, Bubba Wallace reflected upon his time with his former crew chief Bootie Barker, and mentioned that his growth "plateaued."

"In 24 we were like, Okay, what's what's that for this peak here? And it kind of just plateaued. And it wasn't from a lack of effort; it wasn't because we had a fallout. It just things didn't line up the way that we thought they would. And it led to a change, and so obviously all of us hope, and even Booty hopes, that this was the right change, indeed, to keep that climb going," Wallace explained. [00:00 onwards]

"Because I don't feel like I've reached my peak yet, nowhere near it. But for some reason, whatever that reason was, we kind of stalled out. And I look at the last two seasons very, very similar," he added.

The Mobile, Alabama native wrapped up his 2024 season in 18th place on the leaderboard with no wins. However, he secured a single pole position, six top-five, and 14 top-ten finishes in 36 starts.

---

Bubba Wallace opened up about his new partnership with Charles Denike

Earlier this month, NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace gave his take on his relationship with his new crew chief, Charles Denike. The duo embarked on a new journey and first teamed up for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium race held on February 2, 2025.

Reflecting upon his first run with Denike, Wallace told NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass:

"It’s a great way to start off the year and our relationship. You know, since the first day I met Charles, he’s been super just on it and willing to just bust his ass to figure out where we need to be better. He’s not afraid of telling you, like, I need to do this, and I’m not afraid to tell him the same thing."

Bubba Wallace had a good run and qualified 14th for the race. He finished in the top five drivers securing fifth in the race. Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott led 171 laps of the 200-lap race and took home his first-ever Clash win.