The irony wasn’t lost on Bubba Wallace as he watched his boss, Denny Hamlin, take the checkered flag at Martinsville while he settled for third. It’s a peculiar dynamic in NASCAR when your team owner becomes your biggest on-track obstacle. The situation harkens back to the days when legends like Dale Earnhardt Sr. simultaneously wore the hats of driver and owner, occasionally outrunning their employees. For Wallace, whose #23 car has shown remarkable speed in the opening stretch of the 2025 season, watching Hamlin celebrate in Victory Lane left him with mixed feelings. He was proud of the consistent speed his team brought but frustrated on why he couldn’t duel against the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin.

Seven races into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, Wallace is experiencing arguably the strongest start of his career. Following another podium finish at Martinsville’s famed “paperclip,” Wallace sits eighth in the standings with a comfortable 49-point cushion above the playoff cutline. Yet, despite this success, the 31-year-old driver’s post-race comments revealed a competitor hungry for more than just consistent top-five finishes.

Wallace’s Frustration Bubbles Over Despite Strong Season Momentum

“You know, I didn’t hit the fence and give the lead away here, but I’m still just as frustrated because I don’t know what it was that we actually needed to be better,” Bubba Wallace admitted in his post-race interview, drawing a parallel to his recent race at Homestead-Miami where he ran into the wall while battling Alex Bowman cost him a potential win. “So, I’ve got to sleep on it tonight and figure out what we need, but we’ve got a great group behind me. They’ve been doing it solid since the start.”

The critical moment at Martinsville came with 83 laps remaining when Wallace found himself running second behind Hamlin. When asked if Hamlin was simply better than everyone else, Wallace conceded, “Yeah, clearly. You know, when I got to second there, I was like, this is my shot, and then a car came out. And so, I never really got to see.” On the ensuing restart, Wallace struggled to get his car up to speed, allowing Christopher Bell to slip past and relegating him to third place, where he would finish the race.

Wallace’s frustration stems not from poor performance but from how tantalizingly close the victory has been. “Seven races, they’ve been bringing fast cars, and it’s fun to be able to drive them and get the finishes that we deserve now,” Wallace explained. Through seven races, his #23 team has delivered consistent speed across diverse track types, including a top-10 at Atlanta’s superspeedway and a respectable top-20 finish at COTA. His crew chief change to Charles Denike has reinvigorated the team, with Bubba Wallace earning 42 points at Martinsville after finishing third in stage two and maintaining position through the final stint.

“When I got to second there, I was like, this is my shot,” Wallace explained, his voice tinged with disappointment. “I was just horrible on restart, so I gave that one to Christopher. Was definitely better than him on a long run, but you just get stuck with this package.” The comments revealed both his confidence in the car’s long-run speed and the areas still needing improvement to challenge for wins consistently. It is particularly interesting to hear a frustrated Bubba Wallace, as only a week before, he was content with a P3 finish at Homestead.

The Unique Dynamics Of Racing Against Your Boss

The situation at 23XI Racing presents a fascinating case study of NASCAR’s interconnected team structures. Since joining the Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned operation in 2021, Wallace has secured two Cup Series victories, with his most recent trip to Victory Lane coming at Kansas Speedway in 2022. Meanwhile, Hamlin continues his dual role as both competitor and owner, creating a complex dynamic rarely seen in professional sports.

In a recent interview with Kevin Harvick, Wallace shed light on the relationship with his team’s leadership. While Hamlin provides technical racing expertise, Wallace described team co-owner Michael Jordan as “more of the mental piece of it”, who maintains a “glass half-full” perspective regardless of race outcomes. This balance has proven beneficial as Bubba Wallace has developed during his numerous races with the organization.

“It feels like it was a plug-and-play system, and we’ve just continued to pick up the pace right where we left off,” Wallace told Harvick when discussing the transition to new crew chief Denike. That seamless adaptation has Wallace confident in his ability to win anywhere on the schedule. When asked if victory could come as soon as the following weekend, he answered without hesitation: “Yes, without a doubt.”

As Wallace chases that elusive next win, the unique scenario of watching his team owner celebrate victories that he covets creates both motivation and frustration. It’s a NASCAR dynamic as old as the sport itself, but one that continues to produce compelling storylines as the 2025 season unfolds. It will be interesting to see how Wallace competes against Hamlin if they are both running up front.