Bubba Wallace’s former crew chief reveals in three words what he’s thankful for

NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace's former crew chief Bootie Barker expressed what he's thankful for on the occasion of Thanksgiving. Barker and the #23 team recently parted ways, however, the former #23 crew chief will continue working with 23XI Racing at its new Airspeed facility.

Wallace's underwhelming performances this season might reportedly have been the reason for the change in the #23 team's crew chief. Charles Denike, who was the crew chief for Truck Series driver Christian Eckes is set to assume Barker's role as Wallace's crew chief.

Nevertheless, Barker made a brief comment on what he's thankful for this year in a video posted by 23XI Racing on Instagram. When his turn came to answer what he's thankful for, Barker said:

"My beautiful wife."

Christian Eckes had an exceptional 2024 Truck Series season, contending for the championship under the guidance of crew chief Charles Denike. Eckes delivered dominant performances, securing four wins and an impressive 22 top-ten finishes out of 23 races, which reportedly was the defining factor for 23XI's crew chief change-up.

Meanwhile, 23XI Racing's #23 driver Bubba Wallace had a slow start to his 2024 Cup Series campaign. However, he picked up the pace and found himself in contention for a spot in the playoffs. To his misfortune, Wallace could not accumulate enough playoff points or win a regular-season race and finished the season in P18 on the leaderboard.

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Bubba Wallace expressed frustration over Bootie Barker's absence for NASCAR finale, opened up on tough crew chief change

The penultimate race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway sparked controversy as three teams, including 23XI Racing's #23 team led by Bubba Wallace, were penalized for attempting to manipulate race results. After a thorough review of radio communications, NASCAR concluded that the teams engaged in actions to influence the race outcome in favor of fellow OEM drivers.

A part of the penalty sanctioned by NASCAR stated that the crew chiefs of the teams involved in the Martinsville controversy would not be allowed to attend the championship race. Moreover, Bootie Barker's split from the #23 team frustrated Wallace. In a conversation with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, he said (via X):

"I hate that Bootie’s last race with the 23 group has to be tarnished by (the penalty). Bootie has meant a lot to me in the short amount of time I’ve gotten to be with him the last three years. He’s become one of my best friends and I told him that when we made the decision to go a different direction."

"So it's been a frustrating week, but it goes on. Time doesn't wait for you. Schedule keeps going. So we're here," added Bubba Wallace.

The Cup Series will return in 2025 with the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, scheduled for February 2nd at 8:00 PM ET. Catch the action live on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM's NASCAR channel.