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23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace recently shed light on his relationship with crew chief Bootie Barker.
A good chunk of credit for Wallace's start to the 2024 campaign, which is the best of his career so far, could be attributed to the No. 23 crew, and in particular, crew chief, Bootie Barker. Barker, who has been around NASCAR garages for nearly two decades, joined the No. 23 team back in September of 2021.
The season saw Bubba Wallace register his first ever NASCAR victory in a historic race at Talladega Superspeedway. Since then, the duo have formed a successful partnership, the results of which include Wallace's first-ever playoff qualification last season and his impressive start to the ongoing campaign.
In a recent episode of the Stacking Pennies podcast hosted by Corey LaJoie, Wallace, 30, shed light on his close-knit relationship with Bootie Barker. He revealed:
"I love Bootie to death. I'd say that throughout my career, you don't really realise until you get to the top level of what you like and what you need."
The 23XI Racing driver revealed Barker's qualities that set him apart from other crew chiefs:
"He's the type, like, 'okay whatever, we're boys, so whatever you say to me, I know you're pissed off at the moment.' So, it's like having people who understand that instead of going back to the shop next day and everybody is butthurt."
Bubba Wallace on previous experiences with former crew chief
Reflecting on past experiences with former crew chiefs, Wallace contrasted the dynamics, emphasizing the significance of personal rapport. From Drew Blickensderfer to Derek Chauvin to Mike Wheeler, he recounted the varying degrees of chemistry and its impact on performance.
The 30-year-old driver said during the aforementioned podcast:
"I had crew chiefs come through, like when I jumped on at #43, Drew was over there, Drew Blick. Very personable guy, down to earth, and we vibed really well. And then, he left to go to the #34 at that time."
"I had my engineer at the time come up, Derek (Chauvin). We never really vibed on that personal level. We just never had that click and the results didn't show. When I jumped over to the #23, I had Wheels (Mike Wheeler). Very engineering-based, very structured."
After 10 races in the 2024 season, Bubba Wallace is ranked 11th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He has 257 points to his name after the most recent DNF in Talladega.
