Bubba Wallace was the cardiac driver of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. He lived on the cutline for much of the end of the regular season as well as in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. Unfortunately, his time came to an end in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Wallace finished a disappointing 16th in his No. 23 Toyota. The finish wasn’t indicative of the speed that he had.

“This weekend was incredible. Just from the effort from the team and from myself. Just all clicking, right? And it felt really good to be competitive and run upfront, pass cars on road courses and not be passed,” Wallace said.

“Usually, you couldn’t count on the No. 23 at a road course race, right? I don’t think you can say that anymore and I don’t think I can say I suck at road courses.

“Back-to-back really good runs at road courses. Finishes were okay, obviously not today. Just got to keep working on your craft. No matter how hard it can get, you’ve got to keep working and trying to learn and be better.”

It was a tough day that saw him qualify 4th and finish 6th in Stage 1 but he was having to come from behind in the second stage. Towards the end of the second-round elimination race, Wallace was spun on a late race restart by Austin Cindric who himself was punted by Daniel Suarez. It was a chain reaction that sent Wallace’s car spinning into the bus stop on the backstretch. He was 11th at the time and dropped to 31st as a result.

The team then called him down pit road to change all four tires. He’d not be able to rebound.

“There’s a lot to look at,” Wallace says. “What I analyze is what could I have done and not be in that situation? Could I have been faster and passed another car? How to be better when you’re racing around there with squirrels.

“It is what it is. Just didn’t have enough and it wasn’t in the cards.”

Still, Wallace has a lot to hold his head high about. I think he did enough to prove that this ride is his for the now and the future. In a high-pressured season, Wallace delivered.

It didn’t take a win to make the playoffs. He did it on his own via points. That’s a testament to his skill.

Also, I think he also proved to be a better all-around driver as well. Most considered him a superspeedway ace but in 2023, he finished 20th and 12th at Daytona, 28th and 23rd in Talladega and 27th and 25th in Atlanta. Not only did it not take a win, it didn’t take strong results on those tracks either.

Which says what?

Wallace is better suited than he has ever been in NASCAR’s premiere series. When his back was against the wall, he came out swinging.

Leaving COTA this past March, he was 37th. At the time, he was second guessing whether he should even be in this ride. His finishes to begin the season was 20th, 30th, 4th, 14th, 27th, 37th.

Even while being hard on himself, he rebounded. He was 22nd a week later. Then 12th. Then 9th. It was this stretch and soon to follow to what made Wallace a believer. The Alabama native had 7 top 12 finishes in a 9 race span that included a top 5 in the All-Star race as well. In fact, his May saw him finish in the top 5 in four straight races.

That was the defining moment of his season. Even in the second half of the regular season, while top 10’s were more scarce, he was making the most of it by snagging stage points and top 15’s. He had 6 in an 8 race span again.

With being below the cutline entering Bristol, he scored 8 stage points and finished 14th. That got him to the Round of 12. In the second-round opener, he led 111 laps from the pole but finished third.

It was that 23rd place result in Talladega and 16th on Sunday to take him out of the championship conversation. Which is why I feel like the best is still yet to come out of Wallace. He’s a legitimate Cup driver with a legitimate team and has silenced any doubter.

He has 2 wins, both coming in the playoffs so if he can improve again between 2023 and 2024, watch out.

“I’m pumped for our season. It’s not over yet. I’m really excited for next week and Homestead and Martinsville,” he said. “Phoenix, eh, I might just go on vacation. But we’ve still got four races to go out and do it.

“We weren’t supposed to be here according to a lot of people, but we proved them wrong and then proved a lot of people in the garage wrong that you can’t really count on the No. 23 at a road course race.

“That’s cool to say. Got to continue to work.”