Bubba Wallace took a walk down memory lane last year. The NASCAR Cup Series driver, who usually wheels the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, wheeled a No. 76 Legends car. His involvement in the 2024 Summer Shootout harked back to a distant past when Legends Cars and Bandoleros taught him the ropes of racing. What they also taught him was the splendor of the Cup Series – a portion of which, unfortunately, does not exist anymore.
Over its 76-year history, NASCAR has undergone various changes, with drastic evolutions in the last two decades. From a rapidly evolving race car to decreasing horsepower levels, most of these changes have not made people happy. Another such change is the cut-down track time, which is leaving Bubba Wallace a sad mess.
Bubba Wallace looks back longingly
Before the COVID-19 pandemic set in, Cup Series drivers could comfortably wheel their cars. The NASCAR Cup Series provided for 165 minutes of practice time over an extended weekend. Then, the sport’s premier tier not only appeared on Saturday and Sunday, but also on Friday for pole sessions. However, that blissful time inched closer to a demise in 2017 when rumblings of reducing time by 46% appeared. Although that did not happen, the coronavirus ensured it. In 2020, the COVID-19 lockdown led to the practice being done away with altogether. Even when teams could come back to the racetracks, they stuck to curtailed track times, which hardly made up for the immense scope they had in the past. What is more, the introduction of the Next-Gen car in 2022 made things more difficult.
Although NASCAR has scaled up practice by 25 minutes for most races and by 50 minutes in Daytona for 2025, Bubba Wallace feels nostalgic. The 23XI Racing driver recently posted on X about how he misses his Bandolero days, when he could look at his Cup Series heroes with starry eyes for a longer time. He wrote, “I miss pole night. I was 10 or 11 when I remember running my bando before the cup guys. It was one of the coolest feelings ever. Wish we had more on track time instead of just Saturday and Sunday.” Wallace also dropped another nostalgic factor: the weather-beaten horsepower debate. “Back then, they had more horsepower. They used to RIP around there.. ”
I miss pole night.
I was 10 or 11 when I remember running my bando before the cup guys. It was one of the coolest feelings ever. Wish we had more on track time instead of just Saturday and Sunday.
Back then, they had more horsepower.
They used to RIP around there..
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) May 22, 2025
NASCAR may be slowly moving back to more track time, though. In 2025, it provided teams with 25 minutes to prepare their racecars prior to time trials. Besides the slightly bumped practice time, the sanctioning body also reverted to single-car qualifying for race weekends. Traditionally, it held single-car, single-lap qualifying until the mid-2000s, when the sport’s executives believed changing the format would boost TV ratings for qualifying. Now, the sport is focused on its new partners, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports, and this simplified procedure will help welcome new fans into the sport.
Although the changing scenario is not so satisfying for Bubba Wallace yet, the 23XI Racing driver can take comfort in his own performance. Presently, the driver may be in a position better than he has ever been.
Snuggling with the best rivals
Well, we could smell the winds of change in the No. 23 garage. Since the beginning of 2025, Bubba Wallace has visibly shed his usual moody nature, advocating for an easygoing personality. That allowed him to crack a joke about a loose wheel in Phoenix just after encountering a wreck. In fact, the 23XI Racing driver has turned things around in his race finishes as well. Wallace clinched two consecutive top-five finishes at Homestead and Martinsville. What is more, his stage points tell a dazzling story. His 100 stage points rank fourth in the series behind only Kyle Larson (128 ), Ryan Blaney (110), and William Byron (107). That has left the twin-time Cup Series race winner 10th in the championship standings, only 12 races into the season.
Bubba Wallace recently reflected on the diverse work he has done to reach this point. He said, “I’ve done a lot of work on self, on the mental side, the physical side, to make sure that I am fit for the job. So you have to think like everything that everybody’s doing is just clicking and it’s seeming to work, right?” He further shed light on his changed outlook after 8 years in Cup Series racing: “Eight years in there’s so much more than just going to beat the other guys. You have to do X, Y, and Z and 1, 2, and 3, right? It’s wild how much goes into trying to be the best. I would say, aside from enjoying the moment, roll your sleeves up and be ready to work.”
Evidently, Bubba Wallace has a lot to look forward to this season. Although NASCAR may not pay heed to his track time nostalgia yet, the 23XI Racing driver may excel nonetheless.
The post Bubba Wallace Reflects on Lost NASCAR Pole Nights, Calls for More Track Time appeared first on EssentiallySports.
