Bubba Wallace felt hard done by. The 23XI Racing driver was accused of race manipulation at Martinsville Speedway, for allowing Christopher Bell to easily pass him during the final lap. The JGR star overtook the No. 23 car in Turn 3, at a time when the title contender needed to gain a spot to remain in contention for a Championship 4 place. Ultimately, Wallace was fined $100,000 while his spotter, Freddie Kraft, crew chief Bootie Barker, and team executive Dave Rogers were suspended for the race in Phoenix.

Despite the setback, Wallace’s spotter revealed that the 31-year-old didn’t miss his presence on the racetrack. A seventh-place finish at Phoenix Raceway proved Freddie Kraft right, as it was his best result in six races.

Bubba Wallace’s spotter forced to remain on the sidelines

The season hasn’t worked out quite as well as Bubba Wallace would have hoped. Having made it to the playoffs in 2023, expectations were high from the driver going into the Cup Series this time around. While his teammate Tyler Reddick made a deep playoff run, the No. 23 Toyota driver couldn’t secure a single win in 36 races. Knowing that he was racing for nothing but pride at Phoenix Raceway, the Alabama native was determined to end his season on a high, despite the setback he faced at Martinsville Speedway.

Sharing his views about the penalty incurred in the penultimate race of the season, Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, “Obviously, you want to be out there with your team and everything but when they decided to appeal, the appeal I didn’t think was going to go in our favor as you saw.” However, when 23XI Racing decided not to pursue an appeal for NASCAR’s verdict, the spotter said, “I made sure I watched the whole race because you know how it is like being home. It’s hard to just tune in.” When asked if his driver missed him at Phoenix, Kraft candidly replied, “He definitely didn’t say he missed me.”

Bubba Wallace didn’t have the best start to the weekend. The 31-year-old qualified in 29th place at Phoenix Raceway and struggled to break into the top 10 in either of the two stages. However, a late resurgence at the 1-mile tri-oval helped him secure his 14th top-ten finish of the season, which was a commendable performance under the circumstances. In Freddie Kraft’s absence, TJ Bell served as the interim spotter for the race, having previously worked alongside Corey LaJoie before being replaced by Stefan Parsons.

With Bubba Wallace not missing his permanent spotter, Freddie Kraft joked about his responsibilities being taken over by saying “I’m going to punch TJ in the face when I see him.” With the season finally at an end, the Alabama native will take a well-earned break before taking stock of his 2024 campaign, analyzing what needs to be improved going into the new year. Despite not making it to the playoffs, the 23XI Racing driver had his best Cup Series season from a consistency standpoint but will need to improve significantly to be able to keep pace with Tyler Reddick.

Wallace was frustrated by Barker’s absence at Phoenix Raceway

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Even though Bubba Wallace was not missing Freddie Kraft on the track, there was one crew member whose absence was being felt at Phoenix Raceway. The Alabama native’s crew chief, Bootie Barker, was also suspended by NASCAR, which meant he wasn’t able to feature in his current role one last time before being moved on to an internal role with 23XI Racing. Instead, veteran crew chief Eric Phillips was appointed to take over responsibilities for the final race of the season.

Upset at Barker being forced to miss out on his final race, Bubba Wallace said, “Bootie has meant a lot to me in the short amount of time I’ve gotten to be with him [over] the last three years. He’s become one of my best friends, and I told him that when we made the decision to go a different direction. I said I don’t throw out the best friend term very easily, so to see him on the sidelines and not going to our last race–win, lose, or draw, it doesn’t matter–he’s not here in the trenches with us, and that [irritates me] for sure.”

With Barker’s departure as crew chief, the team, co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, has appointed Charles Denike as a replacement. Having worked alongside Christian Eckes in the past, it will be interesting to see his transition from the Truck to the Cup Series in the 2025 season. However, 23XI Racing has high expectations from Denike, going on to say, “We’re excited to welcome Charles to the organization and look forward to getting started with him at the end of the season. He will be a terrific addition to the No. 23 team and 23XI as we continue to work to be better.” Do you think Bubba Wallace can keep up with Tyler Reddick next season?