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23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace's spotter and prominent podcast host Freddie Kraft believes that the NASCAR Cup race in Texas provided entertainment value but not quality racing action.
NASCAR has come under tremendous scrutiny in recent weeks over it's quality of races. Courtesy of the NextGen cars' short-track tire package, the recent Cup Series races in Richmond and Martinsville turned out to be rather dull affairs, particularly due to the lack of tire degradation.
The recent AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, however, turned out to generate contrasting opinions from the experts. With Chase Elliott clinching a memorable victory and ending his 42-race losing streak, and numerous lead changes throughout the race, fans were treated to an afternoon of thrilling on-track action.
However, Freddie Kraft, spotter for Cup driver Bubba Wallace and host of the famous Door Bumper Clear podcast, expressed skepticism about its overall quality. In a recent episode of his podcast, Kraft said:
"I think it was probably entertaining to watch. I feel like the race was entertaining, it wasn't a good race. And that's in my opinion, you know. It was just cautions. Cautions bring restarts, restarts are entertaining."
Meanwhile, Brett Griffin, spotter for Justin Haley in the Cup Series and Daniel Hemric in the Xfinity Series, added:
"We have the drivers to thank for it being entertaining. Because if they're not out, they're on edge. It almost was like Talladega was ten years ago. If you got the lead, you had control of the race. And those guys were doing all they could to get control, but the actual ability to pass was absolute garbage. It was a joke."
Bubba Wallace on his mentality shift following top-10 finish in Texas
Wallace, driver for 23XI Racing, has been on a roll when it comes to his start in the 2024 campaign. With over a quarter of the season now complete, the 30-year-old driver has racked up four top-10 finishes, registering his career-best start to a Cup campaign.
The driving force behind this achievement, for Wallace, has been a shift in mentality and unwavering determination. Speaking in a recent episode of Corey LaJoie's Stacking Pennies podcast, Bubba Wallace revealed:
"It may look like I'm pissed off and I try not to give that, 'Hey I'm pissed off don't bother me.' I'm so focused on what I need to do like hyper-focused on what I need to do I think I need to do."
"You just never give up as rough as the days are, our guys we know that," he added. "If we have bad days on pit road or if I make a dumb call on racetrack or we just don’t have a good car, like, none of us ever gave up, and so that’s what you need, and then it starts to kind of stack up."
After nine races in the 2024 campaign, Bubba Wallace has 256 points to his name. He finds himself ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
