{"id":1572124,"date":"2023-06-15T11:48:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T15:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1572124"},"modified":"2023-06-15T11:49:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T15:49:10","slug":"expectations-getting-higher-bubba-wallace-second-half-2023-toyota-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/expectations-getting-higher-bubba-wallace-second-half-2023-toyota-official\/","title":{"rendered":"Expectations Getting Higher for Bubba Wallace Heading Into Second Half of 2023, According to\u00a0Top Toyota Official\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When NASCAR fans<\/a> look back on the career of Bubba Wallace<\/a> years from now, the 2023 season will likely be viewed as that pivotal year where he went from average driver to contender. His results for the first half of the year are undeniably the best so far since he joined the Cup Series full-time in 2018, and according to the top Toyota Racing Development official, expectations are high for the 23XI Racing driver<\/a> and what he could achieve for the rest of the '23 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bubba Wallace off to career-best start of season <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Bubba
Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola race side side during the Food City Dirt Race on April 9, 2023 at Bristol Motor Speedway. | Photo by Chris McDill\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bubba Wallace came to life in the second half of 2022. After scoring just a couple of top-10 finishes in the season's first 18 races, the No. 23 pilot regularly found himself running up front in the second half of the year, which resulted in eight top 10s, four of them top fives, including the second win of his career at Kansas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming into the 2023 season, Wallace acknowledged before the first race at Daytona that he was more confident than ever before. Unfortunately, that confidence didn't translate to success early on, as the 29-year-old recorded two top 10s in the first 10 races while scoring four DNFs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since that 28th at Talladega, he's turned his season around with a single DNF due to a failed brake rotor at World Wide Technology Raceway and three top fives, not including his runner-up finish at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the All-Star Race<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRD president on expectations of Wallace for rest of 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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David Wilson, President of Toyota Racing Development, has lofty expectations for @BubbaWallace<\/a> and the No. 23 team for the rest of the 2023 season. pic.twitter.com\/h509kMWTEj<\/a><\/p>— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) June 15, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>