Watch: 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace takes inside tour of McDonnell Douglas C-17 as he visits Air National Guard’s Charlotte base

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace visited the Air National Guard Charlotte Base ahead of the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also took a tour inside the McDonnell Douglas C-17, better known as the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military aircraft.

First introduced in 1993, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is one of the most advanced military aircrafts in the US Air Force. With a wingspan of 52 meters, the aircraft can travel at a top speed of 590 mph or 950 kmph. It is primarily used to transport military equipment.

In a clip shared by 23XI Racing on X, Bubba Wallace can be seen intrigued as he listens to the functionality of the aircraft and how the equipment is loaded in and out. He was told that the Storm Search and Rescue Tactical Vehicles (SRTVs) have their engines turned on when kept inside the aircraft to help it load and unload as quickly as possible.

"Loading the SRTV is consisted of knowing the weight of them and how we're going to tie them down and placing them in the aircraft to be able to secure them in a way that is symmetric," an officer said.

"The difference between a regular offload and an engine running offload is how quicklyyou want to move. So our engines will be running the whole time so we can quickly get them off the aircraft and get them where they need to be in a quicker amount of time. This one makes them more exciting," she added.

Heading towards Charlotte Motor Speedway for the second time this season, Bubba Wallace is currently out of contention for the championship as he did not qualify for the playoffs. However, he has been consistent this season, finishing at P9 in Talladega earlier.

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Bubba Wallace's spotter unimpressed by four-wide at Talladega

At one point during the Yellawood 500 last week, cars went four-wide as the pack split up. This became a highlight of the race (apart from the 28-car crash which claimed over half of the field, including Bubba Wallace). However, speaking about the race on a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, the #23's spotter Freddie Kraft said the four-wide seems impressive but is not difficult to achieve.

When Brett Griffin asked him if there was something he would like to change about the Daytona 500 in 2025, Kraft said:

"I don't know, aside from starting over from scratch with a different car, I don't know what to do."

He then explained why the four-wide was not an impressive stance. Kraft said 'nobody really cares' because ultimately the race has to go on in two lanes. He added that there is "no excitement" with a third lane circling the circuit.

"My problem is, yeah sure, four-wide looks impressive and it is impressive, but even at half throttle, to be out there running around four-wide is not easy by any means. But it's easier than when you were running wide open back in the day. But my only problem is, that's great, we can make it look impressive when nobody really cares," Kraft said.

"But when we're trying to race at the end of the race, it's two-by-two, you can't get a third lane going, and then there's no excitement whatsoever. It's just whoever can get their lane pushed at the right time riding down the backstretch entering turns three and four, that's who's going to win," Bubba Wallace's spotter added.

Meanwhile, TJ Majors claimed that the NextGen cars can run four-wide on a track like Talladega because they are easier to drive.