“He nailed it all weekend”: Bubba Wallace’s crew chief reflects on ‘super special’ win as 23XI Racing star ended 100-race winless streak

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch - Source: Imagn
Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch - Source: Imagn

Bubba Wallace's victory at the Brickyard 400 race last weekend has got everyone around the garage talking. With this win, the 23XI Racing team driver ended his 100-race winless streak, which was necessary for him to secure his spot in the NASCAR playoffs. This marked Wallace's third victory in the Cup Series, with the last one coming way back in 2022 at the Kansas Speedway.

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Bubba Wallace not only confirmed his spot in the playoffs for later this season but also provided a much-needed boost to the 23XI Racing team, which has struggled in its legal battle against NASCAR. He celebrated his prestigious victory with his wife and the team crew members after their continuous hard work in delivering strong performances during the races.

Bubba Wallace's crew chief, Charles Denike, achieved his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series with this victory. He gave all credit to his driver while reviewing the race.

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"Winning for the first time is super special, no matter where it is... He nailed it all weekend, practice, qualifying, and the race. Just executed a flawless race all day long. We were able to stay with the strategy that we wanted to execute throughout the race. At the end, he had to nail his restarts and a couple laps there for the green-white checker and obviously racing against the best of the best," Charles Denike said via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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This is only the second time that Wallace has secured a place in the NASCAR playoffs in his career. The driver will now look forward to delivering consistent performances in the upcoming races and going as deep as possible into the season.

Bubba Wallace finds his "biggest problem" after Brickyard 400 victory

Bubba Wallace's long-awaited victory at the Brickyard 400 race has opened up quite some mental blocks for him that earlier proved to be a hurdle in delivering consistent wins and performances. The 31-year-old driver confirmed his place in the playoffs after securing his first crown jewel race victory at Indianapolis.

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Wallace opened up in the post-race conference about the self-doubts that creep into his mind during crucial moments of the race and how overcoming them is essential for him to deliver consistent victories in NASCAR.

"Those last 20 laps, it was probably 20 laps of telling myself, I’m not going to be able to do it. So I have found my biggest problem, and that’s this. If I could shut that off mentally, fully, we could do a lot more of this. So we keep pushing. Winning now, before the playoffs start, never done that before. There’s a lot of new stuff for me, so I’m just taking it all in,” Bubba Wallace mentioned in the post-race press conference.

With his win, Wallace is now ranked 11th in the NASCAR Cup Series rankings for this season, scoring 550 points. He now sets his eyes on the playoffs, which he wasn't sure of qualifying for earlier.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Rupesh
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