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“What the F*** He Was Thinking”- 23XI Insider Unmasks Bubba Wallace’s Crew Chief’s Hand Behind Alex Bowman Controversy
“What the F*** He Was Thinking”- 23XI Insider Unmasks Bubba Wallace’s Crew Chief’s Hand Behind Alex Bowman Controversy
Starting behind Shane van Gisbergen in sixth place at the Chicago Street Course, Bubba Wallace was optimistic about securing his fourth top-five finish of the season. If luck was on his side, the 23XI Racing driver could have even sneaked a win, securing a playoff spot. However, the race didn’t pan out the way Wallace would have wanted, largely due to Alex Bowman. The Hendrick Motorsports driver attempted to clear his windshield on Lap 25, but missed the mark, taking a wrong turn and causing Wallace to spin.
However, according to Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft, 23XI Racing crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker was also at fault for having a questionable strategy. Speaking on the ‘Door Bumper Clear’ podcast, Freddie Kraft said, “We did have a terrible strategy yesterday. We were in front of Alex Bowman in Turn 4 when it was raining. I wish Bootie didn’t put us there, I don’t know what the f*** he was thinking.”
With rain coming down hard, ideally, an earlier stop may have helped Wallace. The incident was a major blow to Wallace, but the No. 23 driver managed to claw his way up to finish 13th, making the best out of a bad situation.
But the story doesn’t end there. With Alex Bowman enjoying his race win in Chicago, Bubba Wallace took his revenge by door-slamming into the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the cool-down lap. The situation may land him in hot water, as NASCAR has said that officials will look into the incident to determine if further action needs to be taken.
NASCAR typically issues penalties on Tuesday evenings, and a possible disciplinary action could seriously impact Bubba Wallace’s playoff hopes. The 30-year-old is currently involved in an intense playoff hunt, having entered the weekend in Chicago 51 points behind Alex Bowman and just outside the playoff cut line.
However, Bowman has defended Bubba Wallace’s actions, saying “He barely hit me. It was fine, and it was plenty deserved.” He even called on NASCAR to not penalize Wallace and appeared apologetic as he said, “I’d be mad, too. I ruined his day. I just messed up. I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. I tried to call him during the rain delay and I shot him a text.”
Talking about the incident further, Kraft agreed with Bowman that Wallace shouldn’t be penalized. “I agree with Alex Bowman, shouldn’t be a penalty. Cannot run into people under caution, cooldown laps especially.”
Kraft pointed out that the race saw a similar incident with Chase Elliott hitting Daniel Suarez in the cooldown lap to back for their wreckage earlier in the race, but there hasn’t been much debate over that.
“Unfortunately for the people that would like to throw Bubba out of the sport forever and ever and ever, it happens every week. It happened twice yesterday, Chase Elliott drives up and doors Daniel Suarez after the yellow flag. I didn’t see anybody crying,” he added.
Irrespective of the comments from Bowman and Kraft, NASCAR could consider punishing Bubba Wallace for unsportsmanlike conduct. Considering that Carson Hocevar was docked 25 points and received a fine of $50,000 for deliberately spinning Harrison Burton under caution during the Ally 400 on June 30, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Wallace could face a similar punishment.
However, “Bootie” Barker- the man who made the controversial call in Chicago- is also a major support system if Bubba Wallace and his fans want to see the #23 car scratch the victory lane and, hence, the playoffs.
He may have got a call wrong at Chicago Street Course, but Bootie Barker was also single-handedly responsible for making one of the best calls that 23XI Racing has seen all year.
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Mick Schumacher is being “evaluated” for the second seat at Sauber next year and is on Mattia Binotto’s shortlist.
Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, spent two years on the grid in F1 with Haas from 2021-2022 before being dropped following a difficult second campaign.
The German has since played the role of reserve driver at Mercedes behind George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and is a regular presence in the paddock, but has been limited to in-house testing sessions. The 25-year-old has, however, raced this year for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship.
However, as revealed to The Independent earlier this year, he is still focused on landing a second chance in F1 but there is now only one seat unconfirmed for next year, at Sauber.
Yet Binotto, who knows Schumacher well from his time at Ferrari, revealed to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport that Schumacher is on his shortlist to be Nico Hulkenberg’s team-mate next year.
“Definitely, we are evaluating him,” Binotto said.
“I have met and talked to him, I have known him for a long time having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. I know the merits and advantages of him, he is one of the names we have in mind.”
Valtteri Bottas is believed to be the favourite to retain his seat at Sauber, who officially become Audi in 2026, with McLaren junior driver and F2 championship leader Bortoleto also a serious candidate alongside Williams’ Franco Colapinto.
A factor which could work in Schumacher’s favour, however, is that Sauber’s new chief technical officer, Binotto, worked with Schumacher during the German’s time as a Ferrari junior driver.
Schumacher stated in June that he is “really hungry” to carve a route back into F1 as a first choice over other motorsport series.’
“There’s a lot which hasn’t been seen yet, especially from a driving point of view,” he said.
“It’s never been a secret, my goal is to be back on the grid. I’ve shown in multiple ways that I am capable of winning championships. It’s just a matter of it fitting into somebody’s schedule, does it fit into their plan?
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Lewis Hamilton has proved an unlikely ally for Red Bull following the ‘ride height’ controversy that has dominated the build-up to the United States Grand Prix. Christian Horner’s team have confirmed ahead of the race in Austin that they have made a change to their cars following talks with the FIA, with rivals accusing them of breaking regulations.
Other teams claim the reigning Constructors’ champions are using a device which can change the ride height of their vehicles under parc ferme conditions, giving them an unfair advantage.
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have both hit out, with the Australian pointedly saying: “Something like this is not pushing the boundaries. It’s clearly breaking them.”
Hamilton, however, has defended Red Bull. Despite his notoriously spiky relationship with Horner and Max Verstappen, which peaked during the pair’s ill-tempered 2021 title battle, the seven-time world champion has argued the team had shown initiative with their so-called ‘tea-tray’ mechanism.
“I’ve only just heard about it, before I got here,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “But I think the name of our sport is all about innovation. Red Bull have been the leaders and they’ve innovated.
“Ultimately all the teams look at the rules and try to find how to massage those rules and get the most out of it, even if it’s just over the edge a little bit. You just need to continue to evolve and be better policed.”
However the 39-year-old did slyly imply the addition to Red Bull’s cars may have been benefiting them for years before now. “At the end of the day they did a better job. God knows how long they’ve had that, and they’ve been winning championships,” he added.
“Maybe that stops now, although I don’t think that’s the one thing that’s going to stop them. But I think everyone else, we’ve got to continue to be innovators and leading rather than trying to catch up.”
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In a court filing Wednesday, NASCAR has fired back against Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin-led 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports (FRM). The organization called the lawsuit “meritless” amid a quest for more a more favorable contract.
“Plaintiffs have filed a meritless suit against NASCAR alleging baseless antitrust claims in order to obtain commercial agreements they previously rejected, and to attempt to extort more favorable contract terms,” the filing read, via Bob Packrass.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in a North Carolina federal court, accused NASCAR and CEO Jim France of “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.”
In a filing Wednesday, NASCAR said it hopes for expedited discovery. The organization also noted its plan to have 32 Charters for the upcoming season amid the ongoing dispute.
“NASCAR has taken steps, consistent with its contractual obligations to other Charter Teams, to plan for a season with only 32 Charters,” the filing read. “NASCAR is working on reallocating funds that Plaintiffs would have received to increase prize money and other special awards for the 2025 season for the benefit of teams that timely executed 2025 Charters, as well as Open teams who can compete to win the increased prize money.”
Last week, Hamlin laid out the next steps for the lawsuit on his Actions Detrimental podcast. He explained what 23XI and Front Row will do next for the 2025 Cup Series season and beyond.
“We stated that we’ll be filing for an injunction. That’s the first thing that has to happen,” Hamlin said. “The injunction is basically we’re going to seek relief, and in injunctions, you typically have to show — again, I’m not a lawyer, so be careful here — you have to show irreparable harm if you don’t stop it.
