CORONADO, Calif. — Bubba Wallace has never been much of a fan of racing on road or street courses in NASCAR. In 40 prior Cup starts on such tracks, he combined to earn just one top five and four top 10s.
Enter “Bubba Hamilton,” his apparent alter ego, who showed up to play at Naval Base Coronado on Sunday, wheeling the No. 23 Toyota to an impressive second-place finish after a gritty, comeback drive in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Anduril 250 just across the bay from San Diego.
MORE: Race results | Heim earns first career win
After jokingly comparing himself to Formula One great Lewis Hamilton on Saturday, one might think Wallace would be ecstatic after his best career road-course result, especially after rebounding from a detached right-front wheel at Lap 19 that forced him to pit road and earned him a two-lap penalty. Instead, Wallace couldn’t shake the thought of what could have been, settling for second as part of 23XI Racing’s first 1-2 result after his part-time teammate Corey Heim nabbed the win from Tyler Reddick — another fellow 23XI racer — in the final laps.
“It’s ‘what if?'” Wallace said. “Tired of living in that.”
Wallace did see the pros through the cons in Sunday’s outcome. The 23XI Racing driver jumped two spots to 11th in the points standings after his second top-three finish in the last three weeks. To do so on a temporary circuit on never-before-raced streets and airfields marked a notable improvement in Wallace’s development as a road racer.
“I know how much I’ve struggled in the past and continue to work, and I appreciate everybody on the team,” Wallace said. “Appreciate everybody back at Airspeed. Keegan (Leahy) and William (Lee) in the sim room, I give them so much crap for the sim and trying to get it right, but we bust our ass to get that thing right. And as far off as the sim was for all of us in the field, I really learned a lot. Don’t quote me on that. I don’t want them to hear that because they’ll sign me up for more. But it was super beneficial, so having the right people in the right space at 23XI is beneficial for us to capitalize, and you look at it — a 1-2 finish for us.”
RELATED: Reddick dejected after win slips away
After starting 12th, Wallace worked his way up to second place within just 10 laps of action before green-flag pit stops began. When the caution flag waved at Lap 12 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stalled on track, No. 23 crew chief Charles Denike had Wallace stay out, then pit under green-flag conditions at Lap 18. Front changer Austin Dickey was unable to secure the right-front wheel nut before Wallace departed the box, and one lap later, the wheel detached from the car, resulting in a penalty that forced Wallace to sit in his stall for two laps before he could resume action.
“Go figure,” Wallace said of his thoughts in the moment. “Drive your ass off on a track that you have no idea what you’re doing. Drive up to lead, then have it all taken away from you. I’m not bashing anybody. Pit crew’s been one of the best on pit road and had a mistake. We all have mistakes. Unfortunate that it cost us.
“At the end of our weekends, we fill out was it a green race or was it not? Here’s another where it’s not, so that’s a lot of not green races for us. And by green means nothing went wrong, we executed, whether that’s top five or top 20. There’s just another asterisk mark beside our finish and that’s what’s frustrating. So, good day, I guess, in second.”
Wallace was also able to step back and take a moment to praise Heim and No. 67 crew chief Bootie Barker, who previously called the shots for Wallace on the No. 23 team and led Wallace to his first two career Cup wins. Heim, who will become Wallace’s full-time teammate in 2027 as driver of 23XI Racing’s No. 35 Toyota, earned his first career win in his 13th career start.
“My body language and facial expressions will not show it, but I am really excited for Corey and Bootie, getting him back to Victory Lane,” Wallace said. “Being a winner in the Cup Series is something that, when we get there, we all want to achieve, and to be able to do that for him in his (13th) start, it’s pretty special. I know he’s put in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially the weekends that he’s not racing and it’s all paying off for him. I’ve just got to keep busting my ass too and maybe something will go my way, but guess I gotta look at it from the glass half-full.”
MORE: 23XI president Lauletta on team’s 2026 rise
The next task for Wallace is to tame Sonoma Raceway, where the Cup Series returns to action on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Sonoma ranks as one of Wallace’s worst tracks statistically; his average finish of 24.0 is the worst at any track with seven or more starts. Perhaps that fate is set to change this time around, though, after unlocking “Bubba Hamilton” in San Diego.
“I thought about that when we’re two laps down. I’m like, maybe my Sonoma weekend will go better because that place kicks my ass,” Wallace smiled. “So having a good road-course race, I hope I don’t go from hero to zero, but I feel confident going into Sonoma and having a good weekend.”