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Bubba Wallace came into the 2021 NASCAR season with high hopes, but they seem have come crashing back to reality.
Between a 17th-finish in the Daytona 500 and a 26th-place finish at the Daytona Road Course, one has to wonder whether it is time to hit the panic button.
That sentiment was only furthered after the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Stadium, where Bubba Wallace struggled to a 23rd-place finish. He did manage to work his way up to 13th before the end of Stage 2, but he was quickly shuffled back in the pack before the end of the race.
Also Read: Kyle Larson disappointed with runner-up finish
What makes the struggles for Bubba Wallace so surprising is the fact that 23XI Racing is supposed to be a satellite team for Joe Gibbs Racing. That means while the two race teams are different entities, they are allowed to share equipment and other technical information.
While Bubba Wallace is struggling to maintain 12th in the standings, JGR driver Denny Hamlin, 23XI's co-owner, is currently first in points and has two top-10s in three races. JGR teammate Martin Truex Jr. has one top-five, which came at Homestead, and is ninth in points. Christopher Bell won at the Daytona Road Course. Kyle Busch is just outside the top16 in points after running into trouble in all three races.
Also Read: 3 things we learned at Homestead
How does Bubba Wallace compare to JGR drivers?
There seems to be a drop-off in performance at JGR when it comes to the entire team. While Truex, Hamlin and Bell are all enjoying a good start to the season, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace are not.
Focusing on Bubba Wallace, his struggles seem to stem from a mixture of being with a new team, bad luck, and even some poor performances. If this is the case, his team should flourish once they get to the summer months of the season and next year when they have a year of data to draw from. If not, it will be time for team owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan to ask some tough questions.
Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only African-American driver, isn't going to lose his ride after only one season, but more will be expected of him as time goes on. He is eventually going to have to show what he is made of or be ridiculed as a diversity and publicity stunt. The problem, though, is that fans aren't giving him enough time to develop.
In the end, it takes a long time for a team to be able to gel. It also takes a while for the crew chief and a driver to develop chemistry, which is why some fans are being too hard on the duo of Bubba Wallace and Michael Wheeler. They at least need some time to figure out what's working and what isn't.
