“I don’t think our car was capable of winning at all”: Bubba Wallace gives a reality check about 23XI after surprise Watkins Glen result

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was recently featured in a post-race interview with NBC and dropped a reality check about his car on the track. Wallace competed in the 90-lap Go Bowling at the Glen event at Watkins Glen International, held on Sunday, August 10, 2025.

The Cup Series driver had a decent start for the 220.5-mile race with a P15 finish in the qualifying session with a best time of 72.41 seconds and a top speed of 121.80 mph. He was 0.45 seconds behind the pole sitter, Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney, and finished stage one in P20. Following the same pace, Wallace also suffered during stage two of the race at the Glen.

Bubba Wallace fell nine spots in the second stage and finished behind Austin Cindric. However, he made up for the same in the final stage of the 220.5-mile race. The #45 Toyota Camry XSE driver picked up the pace and concluded the 90-lap race among the top-ten drivers, securing an P8 finish. However, he was not satisfied with the results and told NBC News:

“Indy was life-changing. It allowed me to come here and not harp on all of the mistakes that I usually make at a road course and figure out how to make less. I think we did that. I don’t think our car was capable of winning at all, but 10th to 12th place is where we determined our team is a couple months ago, and we exceeded that, so that’s a win. I appreciate everyone on this Toyota Camry. It looked good."

"My suit was the best one in the game. All around fun weekend. The big boss was here. MJ (Michael Jordan, co-owner, 23XI Racing) was here, so good to get him a couple of top 10s,” he added.

Bubba Wallace fell one spot on the NASCAR Cup Series points table and now ranks 11th. Also, he has led 136 laps this season with an average start of 16.792 and an average finish of 17.75.

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23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace shared his feelings about being intimidated by his teammate's performance this season

Earlier this year, in April 2025, Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace was featured in an interview with NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick's "Happy Hour" podcast on YouTube. During the episode, the Toyota driver opened up about feeling under pressure from his teammate, Tyler Reddick, this season.

Reflecting on the same, Wallace told Harvick:

"Seeing the success of the 45, not from a jealousy standpoint, but it's like 'I have the same stuff,' and I feel like I'm just as competitive as Tyler. I put all that weight on me, that pressure on me. So, I'm back in the gym, and nobody's telling me, 'Hey, you need to work out to run better; you need to be in more meetings to understand better.' I took that upon myself as, like, 'I'm doing just enough to get by, and that's not okay." [05:20 onwards]

Bubba Wallace ranks 11th on the Cup Series points table with 610 points, whereas Tyler Reddick ranks seventh with a lead of 91 points. Wallace has secured one win, ten top-tens, and four top-five finishes in 24 starts this season. On the other hand, Reddick has nine top-ten finishes and five top-five finishes with one pole position this season.