"I won’t watch Texas" - Bubba Wallace refuses to watch 2023 playoff replay, welcomes insights from other races

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace recently opened up about his past experiences at Texas, recalling his forgetable outings from last season at the Circuit of the Americas and the missed opportunity for victory in the fall playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Wallace crashed out early in the race at COTA last year, and openly expressed his frustrations. However, he bounced back to have a career-best season, qualifying for the playoffs and advancing into the Round of 12.

Bubba Wallace was poised to win the playoff race at Texas last season, but lost the lead in a late restart, with William Byron claiming the win. After missing out on the victory, he failed to advance to the next round.

In a recent interview with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, Wallace was asked if he had prepared for the road course event at COTA by reviewing his past race. The #23 Toyota driver claimed that while he would watch any race in which had performed poorly, he would not watch the fall playoff race at Texas.

"It’s quick, I watched eight laps and I turned it off," Wallace joked about the 2023 COTA race. "No, I’ve watched, I went back and watched, obviously, the race last year, the highlights from practice and qualifying yesterday for both series. So, even when you take yourself out – the only one I won’t watch is Texas [Motor Speedway]. Everything else I watch if I crash out Lap One, I’ll watch it. I won’t watch Texas."

Bubba Wallace lines up 10th for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix scheduled for this Sunday, March 24, at 3:30 PM.

Wallace will return to Texas Motor Speedway next month, for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, scheduled on April 14. The mile and half oval will not host a playoff race this season.

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Tyler Reddick shares intriguing observation about teammate Bubba Wallace

Tyler Reddick recently completed his first season with 23XI Racing, alongside teammate Bubba Wallace. Over the past season, the #45 Toyota driver has observed that his teammate adopts a different racing approach against team co-owner Denny Hamlin.

Reddick explained that Wallace tries to leverage Hamlin's ownership in the team to his advantage, trusting that the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver would never wreck his own cars. He elaborated on Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour podcast:

"I got the feeling pretty early on from Bubba that he tries to use Denny’s ownership in the team against him."

"Well, if you’re in Denny’s shoes, you don’t wanna tear up your own car and you don’t wanna wreck another one of your own cars, right. Because I feel like he’s aware with how expensive this stuff can get."

Reddick also added that he has developed a good understanding with his teammate, and they work well together on and off the track.