Bubba Wallace’s spotter recalls how he came in touch with the 23XI Racing driver

On an episode of The Derek Pernesiglio Show, Bubba Wallace's spotter spilled the beans on how he landed his gig with #23. He mentioned that Mike Herman Jr. played matchmaker, introducing him to Wallace thanks to a mutual family friend, when Wallace was on the hunt for a spotter.

Freddie Kraft has been a constant in Bubba Wallace's racing life, stretching back to his teen years, over a dozen years ago. It's no surprise that their bond is tighter than many others in the Cup Series garage.

Bubba Wallace is currently ranked 15th this season, having finished three races in the top-5 and six in the top-10. In his most recent five races, the driver of the #23 has hit the top 20 three times and made one top-10 finish, all with his spotter Freddie Kraft by his side.

When discussing how he teamed up with Bubba Wallace, Freddie Kraft shared a story with Derek:

"He [Mike Herman Jr.] called me one day and he said that you know I got this kid a family friend to his knew Bubba Wallace and they were looking for a spotter for K&N racing. and Herman is like, well, I can't do it because he had committed, I think, the tie dealing already."

He added:

"He's like, but I got this guy that I know wants to kind of pursue this as a career up there and maybe you can, you know, work with him. So, Herman, why don't you just come down here, give it a shot, stay at my house, so we stay in that same room. and uh... yeah we we went out and won the first race right out of the box of Greenville."

In his most recent race in Chicago, Bubba Wallace crossed the finish line in 13th place, but he wasn't too happy about it. Despite the decent finish, Wallace was visibly upset with Alex Bowman, who took home the win.

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Frustrated Bubba Wallace spins Alex Bowman's car after the race

At the Grant Park 165 race in Chicago, during lap 25 out of 58, Alex Bowman attempted to clear his windshield but missed the mark. Bowman took a wrong turn, causing him to spin out Wallace and slam into the wall.

Despite the setback, the #23 driver clawed his way back up, finishing the race in P13 place. However, Wallace didn't miss his chance to even the score. Right after Bowman won the Chicago Street Race, Wallace deliberately bumped into Bowman’s #48 car during the cool-down lap.

Later on, Alex Bowman owned up to his mistake and extended an apology to Wallace for the incident. According to Jeff Gluck, Bowman said:

"I'd be mad, too. I ruined his day. ... I just messed up. I've been embarrassed about it since it happened. I tried to call him during the rain delay and I shot him a text. He barely hit me, everything was fine and it was plenty deserved."

Bubba Wallace is now getting ready for The Great American Getaway 400 Presented By VisitPA.com at Pocono Raceway. Although his overall average finish on the track is 20.0 place over 11 starts, he has shown significant improvement in the last four races since 2021, averaging a finish of 9.5.