“Plan to do no fighting this year, I got sponsors to worry about now.” Yes, that’s what Bubba Wallace said in his YouTube vlog before the opening race of the Cook Out Summer Shootout. The 30-year-old is competing in the 10-race event at Charlotte Motor Speedway after five years and was forced to settle for P15 after colliding with the No. 98 car. As fate would have had it, a similar outcome awaited him in the next race as well.

Having finished P12 in qualifying, Wallace’s No. 76 Legend Car was forced into a spin by the No. 98 car in the second race of the Summer Shootout series, leading to a fiery confrontation between Bubba Wallace and the repeat offender.

Bubba Wallace’s Summer Shootout isn’t going as planned

Bubba Wallace began his racing journey at the summer racing spectacle, just like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano. Despite his immense talent and experience, Wallace has struggled to adapt in a Legends Car, with the power-to-weight ratio being vastly different from what he is used to in the Cup Series. The 23XI Racing driver had said that he was participating in grassroots racing to “have some fun”, but going by his opening two races, the experience has been anything but for the Alabama native.

While Wallace hasn’t shied away from confrontation in the past, having been recently fined $50,000 for door-slamming Alex Bowman in Chicago, he was hoping his participation in the Summer Shootout series would have been filled with a lot less drama.  Speaking after the race on his YouTube vlog, Bubba Wallace said, “Hard luck in races out here, getting run over and I wanted to come back and not have any drama. As much as I’ve talked about let’s get in fights, that’s not the objective here. It’s out here to have fun and 98, just two nights in a row, two races in a row we just collide.”

Wallace was seen confronting the No. 98 driver after the second race, saying, “You the 98? It’s two weeks in a row pal.” In response, his Shootout Series rival responded, “I got pushed into you in all honesty. That’s how the race is. That’s how everyone passes here.” The Cup Series driver, who was notably angry by this point, swiftly retaliated by saying, “I don’t give a f*ck. I know how they do it. And if you wanna learn how to pass, it’s gotta start right now.”

While Wallace did not intend to get involved in fights, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he will look for payback in the upcoming races. The 23XI Racing driver hinted at it, pointing at the letter ‘P’ on his No. 76 car, and saying it stands for “self-policing”. To avoid a similar fate in week 3 of the Shootout Series, Wallace will hope to finish higher up in qualifying, so that he can avoid the No. 98 car entirely, and compete against drivers who are more focused on racing cleanly.

While his objective in returning to grassroots racing is to primarily enjoy racing, Bubba Wallace is also keen to increase his win tally at the Summer Shootout Series. The 30-year-old has 13 wins across the U.S. Legends Pro Division, VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro, and Bandolero Bandits Division, and is hoping to adapt his driving style to suit the Legends Car quickly, to get some positive results. However, not everyone is taking his participation at the Cook Out Summer Shootout so seriously, as his wife Amanda Wallace, who is expecting a baby boy later this year, questioned his involvement.

Amanda Wallace pokes fun at Bubba’s Summer Shootout

Bubba Wallace’s return to grassroots racing hasn’t been a solo venture. His wife, Amanda Wallace has accompanied him on the racetrack, giving him moral support while the couple look forward to having a baby boy later this year. In April, the married couple announced that they were expecting their first child in October 2024, and a month later, Bubba and Amanda Wallace revealed that they were expecting a baby boy at a gender reveal party.

While they continue to make preparations for parenthood, Bubba Wallace is fulfilling his dream of driving a Legends Car in the Pro Division once again. As for Amanda, she joked that her presence on her racetrack was her husband’s way of preparing her for what’s ahead. Implying that their baby boy will also become a racer, Amanda Wallace wrote on her Instagram story, “I think @bubbawallace decided to race this summer shootout to prepare me slightly to have a boy.”

Wallace, who is currently vying for a playoff spot in the Cup Series has finally made it into the bubble after a fourth-place finish at Richmond Raceway. As things stand, he is three points above the cutline but will need to show some consistency in the remaining three races of the season. As for his ambition in the Shootout Series, Wallace will hope that he steers clear of the No. 98 car in the eight remaining races while performing better in qualifying to get a result in the race. He certainly has the talent, but the question is if the 23XI Racing driver can adapt to the rigors of grassroots racing.

Do you think Bubba Wallace will win a race in the Summer Shootout series? Let us know in the comments!