“Frustrating”: Bubba Wallace comes clean that he and his 23XI boss Denny Hamlin ‘suck’ on road courses

After finishing 15th at the iconic Charlotte ROVAL on Sunday, Bubba Wallace felt that he and his 23XI Racing boss, Denny Hamlin, suck at road courses. While speaking with NBC Sports, the Alabama native then vented about not being able to save tires throughout the 109-lap event.

Wallace said he was pretty good at the craft on short tracks. But it never seemed to work out at road courses. The driver knew it wasn’t due to a lack of effort; just that their overall package wasn’t good enough for a deserving end to his playoff bid.

“Just was thrown for a loop with this tire, and it is funny to look at myself and Denny (Hamlin) and a couple others at the short tracks, when tires degrade, we are pretty good at being able to save tire,” Bubba Wallace said during his post-race interview. “Him and I both suck on road courses and we can’t save tires on road courses. It is just frustrating. Frustrated at self, just knowing what was on the line, and didn’t produce.”

Hamlin was able to salvage a P23 finish, his worst performance since Bristol. But unlike Wallace, he is still in the playoffs with an eight-point cushion on the cutoff line, and so is his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell. 23XI Racing is now out of the playoff picture altogether.

Wallace currently sits 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings with 2177 points to his name. 32 races into the season, the 31-year-old speedster has amassed five top-fives and 13 top-10s besides 368 laps led. He was the only driver from the 23XI camp who made this year’s playoffs through wins and not points.

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Bubba Wallace reveals conversation with Denny Hamlin after last week’s eventful race at Kansas

Bubba Wallace could have won at Kansas last week. Things looked great for Wallace as, after that late race restart, the 23XI driver found himself taking the lead. But Denny Hamlin, who happens to be the longest-tenured driver in the Cup Series without a championship, wasn’t going to let Wallace off easily.

In an attempt to snatch the lead, Hamlin veered aggressively to the inside of Wallace, hitting Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota and pushing it against the outside wall. This gave Chase Elliott the golden opportunity to clear both Wallace and Hamlin and claim the victory.

While Hamlin bagged a respectable P2 finish, Wallace was furious for ending up fifth. He was more upset about the fact that they had just given away the win to a Chevy team. But things cooled down about a week later, and the duo was finally able to talk things out. Reflecting on their conversation, Bubba Wallace said in a statement,

“It was definitely a somber week for sure. I hate that it got to this point, the lingering effect. Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago. It was a good, heart-to-heart conversation, came from a place of peace. (It) went better than I thought it would.”

“He shared his side of things, and I shared mine, and we had common ground,” he added.

Even though he is not in the playoffs anymore, Bubba Wallace can still contend for a win. Next up for the driver is the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Scheduled for Sunday, October 12, the 267-lap event will stream on USA (5:30 pm ET) with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.