Bubba Wallace on pressure, social media and what he has learned: 'I don’t change for anybody'
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
Bubba Wallace knows that with Kurt Busch joining 23XI Racing for 2022, his performance will be scrutinized, as with both racing in similar equipment, people will be able to compare him to the 2004 Cup champion.
But Wallace also knows one other fact when it comes to scrutiny as part of driving for a team co-owned by basketball legend and world icon Michael Jordan. And it has to do with a trophy Wallace earned in October at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I feel like I’m just a walking pressure stick. I don’t know what you want to call it," Wallace told FOX Sports in an interview Monday. "All the pressure comes from within.
"I know MJ is there. I got him his first win. I told Kurt that — I’m glad I got that before he came over and got that. We got that out of the way. So that is a lot of pressure gone."
The 28-year-old Wallace doesn’t need any reminders of the pressure, of his role as the first driver hired by one of the best-known athletes in the world, not to mention his being the only full-time Black driver in NASCAR’s three national series (and the first Black driver to win a Cup race since 1964).
Even a recent sponsorship announcement was another indication of just how much having an icon such as Jordan can mean to the team. Earlier this week, Wheaties announced a one-race primary sponsorship of the team (at Auto Club Speedway in February) to coincide with putting Jordan on its 100th-anniversary cereal box.
"It’s Michael Jordan," Wallace said. "He’s done a lot of things on and off the basketball court. He’s a true act of a champion."
Jordan has been pictured on the Wheaties box 19 times. Wallace hasn’t had his image on the box yet, but maybe one day.
The path to get there for Wallace will require more wins. His new teammate has won 33 times.
"He is definitely ahead of me," Wallace said of Busch. "Being able to learn from that and play catchup as quick as I can, he’s going to push me to be better."
Wallace enjoyed his best season in his four full-time years in 2021, as he placed 21st in the standings and had an average finish of 19.7, marking the first time he had an average finish better than 20th. The move to 23XI Racing from Richard Petty Motorsports brought increased expectations, and though Wallace didn’t meet the expectation to make the playoffs, he did win a race.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Relive Bubba Wallace's full celebration after a rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
He had a new crew chief for the last couple of months in Bootie Barker, who will remain Wallace’s crew chief next season.
"Bootie is just a lot of fun," Wallace said. "That is the one thing that I carry most to a race team is making sure we have fun.
"The racing side of it will take care of itself. That’s when the business switch flips on. But the more you act like family, the more you have fun together, the better off we’ll be."
Barker likes to read in his free time at the track. That has yet to rub off on Wallace.
"I can’t read [at the track]," he said. "You’ll see me listening to music."
Wallace has had a little more free time than maybe he would want this offseason, as Busch has handled all the testing for the new Next Gen car. That’s not because Wallace doesn’t want to test. Rather, he is not medically cleared following shoulder surgery the week after the season finale in November.
"It was just wear and tear over the years," Wallace said, adding that he did not believe the injured shoulder impacted his on-track performance. "I haven’t done anything traumatic to it. It just needed some work done."
The next test comes Jan. 11-12 at Daytona, and Wallace said he didn't know if he would be cleared to get back behind the wheel.
"It’s obviously healing up and in the process of that, so all is good there," he said. "Everything is on track. ... Well, l have to see what the docs say [when I can return]. But recovery is going well. Physical therapy is going well."
Even if he isn’t on the track, Wallace continues to have a presence off of it. He was recently the subject of an ESPN special, and Netflix will release a docuseries on Wallace and 23XI Racing in the first few months of next year.
His advocacy combating racial and social injustice has made him one of the more polarizing drivers, something that has resulted in his learning to ignore the noise on social media.
"It doesn’t matter if I say the sky is blue. I’ll get some backlash for it," Wallace said. "That’s just kind of the world we live in.
"The power of social media. The power of the keyboard warriors. I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the features and enjoy the time with family over the holidays."
One thing Wallace said he won’t do is change his approach and his outspokenness.
"I don’t change for anybody," he said. "I guess I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing."
Thinking out loud
Some would say that Todd Bodine should be happy with a career of 794 starts in NASCAR national series. And he would be happy.
But from the looks of it, fans will be just as happy as Bodine for him to get to 800. As part of a viral campaign by Camping World founder Marcus Lemonis, who asked for 800 retweets from people who wanted to see Bodine hit the mark, Bodine will run six races in the trucks in 2022.
The FOX Sports analyst has not raced in the series since 2013 or in any NASCAR event since 2017. The videos of Bodine talking about his plans, posted Monday morning on my Twitter feed, had more than 74,000 combined views by early evening Wednesday. They also had more than 1,400 combined likes.
It is evident that there is some fan enthusiasm about this comeback, and that shows that this is a good idea, despite Bodine's being out of the seat for so long. It should be fun for him in those six races: Las Vegas, Darlington, Texas, Sonoma, Nashville and Pocono.
We’ll see if Bodine, a two-time series champ, still has it at age 58. He admits that it was either get it done now or never have it happen, and he was able to make it happen thanks to the help of Lemonis and Camping World, Toyota and Halmar Friesen Racing co-owners Chris Larsen and Stewart Friesen.
"With that hanging out there like it is, at 794, to be that close, I’ve just got to do it," Bodine said. "I do have to do it now because I am getting older.
"Reflexes go, and eyesight goes. ... I do need to get it done this year."
Next Up: Next Gen
Eighteen cars tested Wednesday at Charlotte, and drivers worked on three packages: 550 horsepower with a 7-inch spoiler, 670 horsepower with a 6-inch spoiler and 670 horsepower with a 6-inch spoiler that was off-center to the right with a 4-inch taller left-side fin on the rear windshield and decklid.
The drivers and crew chiefs met with NASCAR following the test, and the consensus was that drivers like the 670 horsepower with the 6-inch spoiler that was centered the best, according to drivers and others who were at the post-test meeting.
NASCAR also tweaked some pieces underneath the car to try to help it in traffic.
Teams will return to the track to test again Friday on the Charlotte oval, and it is possible that they will see if a smaller spoiler produces different results.
Social spotlight
They said it
"I feel fortunate to be a part of this." — Daniel Hemric on adding a part-time Cup ride to his schedule
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!