“That Was Some Weird Sh*t”—Unwelcome Participant Eavesdropping on Bubba Wallace’s Charlotte Party Takes 23XI Star by Surprise

NASCAR’s longest crown jewel event is underway, and the lead changes have been thrilling so far. 23XI Racing’s No. 23 driver, Bubba Wallace, put up an impressive performance all across stage 2, battling for the lead mainly with Christopher Bell and William Byron. However, as stage 3 progressed, his pace fell a little. Besides the race track specifics, Wallace also observed a curious peculiarity in his radio communications.

Someone trying to hack Bubba Wallace’s radio again?

Remember the 2023 All-Star Race? The No. 23 team and specifically its driver, Bubba Wallace, experienced a bad situation. Somebody hacked into the team’s radio channel and delivered a derogatory message to the series’ only black driver in the Cup Series currently. “Go back to where you came from,” was what they said, and they followed it up with a racial expletive. Although NASCAR investigated the incident, the mysterious voice remained unknown.

A similar situation seems to have propped up at the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 race, but devoid of the hurtful comments. While Bubba Wallace was prying for the lead in stage 2, an unfamiliar voice popped in between his communication with his pit team. The 23XI Racing driver was surprised yet fascinated by this occurrence.

Toby Christie updated the situation on X: “The No. 23 team and Bubba Wallace think that someone has popped onto their radio channel. Bubba: “Whoever’s voice that was before you said to pit, that was some weird shit.”

There is a section in the NASCAR rulebook that addresses smooth radio communication. It states, “During competition, in-vehicle radio communication capability is required between the driver, crew chief, and spotter of the same vehicle number.” However, there are no specifics mentioned regarding an intruder in the communication.

As Bubba Wallace fumbles for an explanation for this incident, it echoes similar technical glitches that emerged in a past NASCAR Cup race.

No dearth of radio troubles for Wallace

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Earlier in 2024, the No. 23 team’s radio buffered during the race at Talladega Superspeedway. As it turned out, not only Bubba Wallace but also other drivers faced a similar problem. Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 driver Martin Truex Jr was audibly frustrated: “All our radios are f***ed up right now.”

With the drafting track throwing up a ton of three-wide racing and fuel-saving puzzles, Talladega is the last place to lose communication with your spotter. While Wallace and Truex dealt with the issue somewhat, Team Penske’s No. 22 team incurred a blow from this situation. Joey Logano sped on pit road and NASCAR slapped him with a pass-through penalty. The poor communication that plagued the race partly caused this.

Now another mysterious glitch has surfaced in Charlotte, with unfamiliar voices on Wallace’s radio. We can only wait till the end of the weather-delayed race to delve deeper into this curious matter.