“I wanted it to fail so bad”- Bubba Wallace looks back on inaugural Chicago Street race

Bubba Wallace recently shared his feelings on last year's Chicago street race. Despite having what he described as "one of the coolest weekends," the rain-dampened event left him secretly hoping it would fail.

Currently in his fourth NASCAR Cup season with the 23XI Racing team and 8th overall, the #23 Toyota Camry driver has competed in 232 races over eight years, securing two wins, two poles, and 37 top-10 finishes. However, he has struggled on road courses.

His best road course finish was P7 place at the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord in 2022. Despite this, the Chicago Street race inclusion in last year's schedule had Bubba Wallace and his fellow Cup drivers excited about the challenge of racing through the city's streets.

He expressed mixed feelings about last year's Chicago street race due to the weather. When asked recently about his thoughts on the upcoming Chicago race, Wallace shared:

"We just started Sim this week and it was okay. Did not know the best. But uh yeah I think if there's no rain that's actually really fun. I've told Nascar I've told everybody like going into that last year I wanted it to fail so bad I'm not a road course guy thought it was going to be absolute crapshoot."

He added:

"And that was probably one of the coolest weekends you know all the way leading up to Sunday. Of course rain came through and hurt everything and that that sucked," via Frontstretch. [at 3:46]

He also reflected on his personal experiences in Chicago, noting the unique atmosphere.

"It's just a different environment," he said.

He added that the teams experienced a mix of everything, including the Chicago block party vibe.

Meanwhile, Wallace has been facing challenges in recent races and has openly discussed these struggles.

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Bubba Wallace talks about his recent struggles as he prepares for the USA Today 301 race

Wallace started the season in strong fashion, scoring two top-5 finishes at the Daytona 500 and the Amber Health 400 in Atlanta. However, it took him another six races to crack the top-5 again, at the Cook Out 400 in Martinsville. Since his 7th-place finish at Darlington, his performance has dipped noticeably.

Over the past three races—at Gateway, Sonoma, and Iowa—his best finish has been 17th. Talking about his tough stretch, Bubba Wallace said:

"We haven't done much of anything in the last month and a half. I know it's not a lack of effort, so I don't want my team to see this and think that we're just s**t. We're not, just things haven't been clicking, we've been trying different things, it's just not been a good stretch for us which makes us hungry to hit the racetrack again," as reported by Frontstretch. [at 2:23]

Now, Bubba Wallace would be aiming to turn things around at New Hampshire, where he has an average finish of 17.7 from six starts. He's previously managed a top-5 finish at the speedway in 2022 and a top-10 finish last year.