Bubba Wallace ceased all uncertainties of his future plans by inking a new multiyear contract extension to continue to drive the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE entry for 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series division, an announcement that was posted by 23XI Racing via social media.
The news comes as the 30-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, is currently campaigning in his seventh consecutive full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series and fourth in recent seasons with 23XI Racing.
Despite missing the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, Wallace, who is ranked in 19th place in the drivers’ standings, has recorded five top-five results and 10 top-10 results through 28-scheduled starts. Amid a two-year winless drought, the Alabama native’s current season stats of top fives and top 10s are tied with the most he has accumulated in a season with the 2022 and 2023 seasons, thus giving him additional opportunities to both add and set new career-high stats to both categories with eight races remaining to the 2024 season.
“From day one Bubba has been an integral part of 23XI,” 23XI Racing said in a release statement through social media. “We’re excited to announce that he has signed a multi-year renewal and will continue to play a key role in helping 23XI grow and succeed. #ForwardTogether“
Wallace, who made his Cup Series debut as an interim competitor for Richard Petty Motorsports in select events in 2017 before spending the next three seasons as a full-time competitor for the Petty organization, first joined 23XI Racing, an organization founded and co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow Cup competitor Denny Hamlin, as the team’s first competitor in 2021. During the season, Wallace made history by becoming the second African-American competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall, where he notched the first Cup victory for himself, veteran crew chief Bootie Barker and 23XI Racing. The following season, he notched his second Cup career victory at Kansas Speedway, which currently stands as his latest victory in the series.
This past season, Wallace made the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. Despite falling short of transferring past the Round of 12, he would settle in a career-best 10th place in the final championship standings. By then, he recorded a personal-best average-finishing result of 15.9 and led a career-high 285 laps in a season.
Through 247 current starts in the Cup Series, Wallace has accumulated two victories, three poles, 21 top-five results, 42 top-10 results, 658 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.0. He has also made a total of 88 starts in the Xfinity Series and won a total of six races apiece in both the Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series East, the latter two divisions in which he became the African-American competitor to win in both.
With his future set, Bubba Wallace’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur this Saturday, September 21, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
