Kevin Harvick: Changes in Bubba Wallace are palpable, reflecting results

So far this season Bubba Wallace has collected three top-10 finishes. In the last two weeks he’s gone back-to-back with third-place results.

He’s doing some of his best racing in a long time, to the point that many feel a breakthrough is on the way. Just give it enough time and Wallace will crack through for his first win since 2022.

“You can put that right to Bubba Wallace, another great run from Bubba this weekend,” Kevin Harvick said on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “Fast in practice, fast in all the averages, in contention at the front of the field again.”

As things stand, Wallace checks in eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. In the playoff picture, only three other drivers without a win are ahead of him on points.

So what has changed for Bubba Wallace? Primarily, his routine seems to be locked in, Harvick said.

“When I did the interview with Bubba this week that we’ll have on Thursday, it is the exact same thing,” Harvick said. “You have to be able to find the details and put the work in and do the things that it takes, and that’s what Bubba talked about with (crew chief) Charles (Denike) and being able to have a structured system and understand the type of work and time that it takes to revolve your life around racing. You design everything that you do around that race schedule.

“And Bubba is finally at a point where he realizes that and has got his circle of life under control. New dad and really everything that he has going on has shown the results in a much different way from Bubba in the past.”

Don’t undersell the importance of a crew chief change, either. Denike took over working for Wallace this offseason and it has made quite a big difference.

Bubba Wallace seems to be on the same page as his crew, and the strategy has been on point. He’s putting himself in position to win.

“After I realized how much work Charles Denike has done at Martinsville with the truck side and how good they are, I’m like, ‘Dang, I really should have picked Bubba to win the race,'” Harvick’s co-host, Mamba Smith, said on the podcast. “Because Bubba’s really good there, too. He likes Martinsville. He’s won a truck race at Martinsville, and now Charles is there and he’s good.”

For most around NASCAR, seeing Bubba Wallace having success is a great thing. He’s one of the more entertaining drivers on the circuit, and the fans eat it up.

So does Smith. He explained.

“I love seeing it. I love seeing a friend having fun at what he’s great at,” Smith said. “He’s starting to excel the way that I think a lot of us have always known was inside of him. Now he’s managing the second places, right? And the third places. He wants to break the door down, but it’s like just keep putting yourself in position to be there, keep being fast. Because once you do, he’ll probably click off two or three instead of just the one. And the pit crew, pit crew has been lights out.”

Now Bubba Wallace is set to head to Darlington, where he finished P7 in 2024 and P5 in 2023. It’s as good a track as any to secure that first win of the season.