“When in Texas”: 23XI’s Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick with boss Denny Hamlin enjoy Longhorns basketball game amid COTA visit 

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Denny Hamlin, accompanied by Ty Dillon, were all in attendance at a basketball game between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs together. The game took place this weekend on March 1 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and the drivers were able to be there as they are in town for the next race in the Cup Series calendar taking place at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA).

23XI Racing's Wallace took to his social media to share a photograph of the four drivers sitting courtside at the game. He also added a caption to the image shared on his Instagram stories, tagging his fellow competitors:

"When in Texas"

Bubba Wallace's Instagram story featuring teammate Tyler Reddick, owner/driver Denny Hamlin, and Ty Dillon at the Longhorns game - Image via Instagram/@bubbawallace

The two 23XI Racing drivers have qualified for the top two spots of the starting lineup for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Tyler Reddick will be starting at pole position for the tenth time in his career, aiming to secure a second victory at COTA after his win at the track during the 2023 season. Wallace joins him in the first row after he completed qualifying with a 1:38.30 lap time, marginally behind his teammate's run.

Their team owner, driver of #11 for Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin will start this weekend's race from 11th place. Their fellow basketball game-attendee Ty Dillon has qualified towards the back of the pack in 34th place.

The race at COTA will be a 228-mile race and will take 95 laps to complete, it will start at 3:30 pm ET and be broadcast on Fox Sports.

“Tomorrow is a different pace for me": Bubba Wallace talks about the challenges for the COTA race

Bubba Wallace, who secured his qualifying position for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix after being on the heels of his teammate, Tyler Reddick, during the session has discussed how things will be different going into the race this weekend. Speaking after the qualifying session, Wallace talked about his game plan for the race to keep up the speed and the aggression as he battles the rest of the field.

The 31-year-old said:

“Tomorrow is a different pace for me, racing and being aggressive and staying up front. That'll be the new challenge but in all just continuing to get speed and getting more comfortable in these types of places is what it's all about. It’s all about the men and women at 23XI,” Wallace told NASCAR.

Following Wallace and closing out the Top 10 on the starting lineup for the Sunday race are Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Todd Gilliland.