Bubba Wallace 2026 Report Card: No Wins, Still an A-
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing 2026 Season Report Cards, where every full-time Cup Series driver gets a grade computed from all 36 races, not opinion. Next up: the number 23 of 23XI Racing.
The Short Version
Bubba Wallace's 2026 season ended 11th in the standings without a win. He came close three times. He finished 2nd at San Diego and New Hampshire, and he crossed the line 2nd at Atlanta in July before a penalty dropped him to 29th. He ran 17 top 10s, 9th most in the field, and finished on the lead lap 26 times, 5th most. His computed season grade is an A-, 7th best of 35 and one spot ahead of the champion.
Why the Bubba Wallace 2026 Grade Is an A-
Every HHR report card grade comes from the same math. After every race, each driver gets a score out of 100 based on where they finished in the field, how many spots they gained or lost from the start, how many laps they led, and a penalty for not finishing. The season grade is the average of all 36 race scores, curved against the 35 drivers who ran the full year.
Wallace's season score ranked 7th of 35, which lands at A-. That surprises people when they see the zero in the wins column. The formula does not hand out extra credit for a trophy. It rewards finishing well, week after week, and gaining spots from where you start. Wallace did both.
He started around 17th on average and finished ahead of where he started by 1.8 spots per race, 6th best in the field. His median finish was 11th. What held the grade below the A group was a handful of very bad days. He finished 28th or worse eight times, and four of those were crashes.
Bubba Wallace by the Numbers
Here is where Wallace ranked among the 35 full-time drivers in 14 stats. The bar and the circle show his rank (1 is best). The number on the right is the actual stat.
The card is remarkably even. Wallace ranked between 9th and 11th in eight of the 14 stats: 9th in top 10s (17), 10th in average driver rating (84.4), 10th in fastest laps run (275), 10th in average running position (14.4), 10th in percentage of laps run inside the top 15 (70 percent), 11th in average finish (15.7) and 11th in laps led (317).
His two best ranks are the ones that measure steady work: 5th in lead lap finishes with 26 and 6th in average positions gained. The weak spot is finish spread, 24th of 35. When his races went wrong, they went all the way wrong.
A Fast Start, a Rough Spring and Three Near Misses
Wallace opened the year as one of the best cars in the field. At the Daytona 500 he led 40 laps and won Stage 2, but a green-flag stop for fuel late in the race left him 10th, per Speedway Media. He followed it with 8th at Atlanta, 11th at COTA, 6th at Phoenix and 9th at Las Vegas. His average finish over the first five races was 8.8, and he sat 2nd in the standings in March behind teammate Tyler Reddick.
Then the spring turned. He started 2nd at Darlington in March and finished 34th. He crashed out at Martinsville (36th), Talladega (36th) and Nashville (32nd) in a span of eight races.
The summer brought the close calls. He ran 3rd at Michigan on June 7. At San Diego on June 21, FOX Sports reported he lost two laps to a loose wheel and still came back to finish 2nd. At Atlanta on July 12, he crossed the line 2nd with Ty Gibbs pushing him, but NASCAR ruled he advanced his position below the double yellow line on the last lap and scored him 29th. And at New Hampshire on Aug. 23, NASCAR.com reported he locked up his left-front tire in lapped traffic with five laps to go while chasing Ryan Blaney, and settled for 2nd.
Across the 26 regular season races, Wallace averaged a 16.5 finish with 11 top 10s and 214 laps led. It was enough to make the 16-driver Chase as the 14th seed.
A Better Chase, With One Big Exception
Wallace was steadier once the Chase started. He ran 8th in the Southern 500 at Darlington after leading 38 laps, then 14th at World Wide Technology Raceway, 7th at Bristol, 9th at Kansas and 8th at Las Vegas. He entered Charlotte on Oct. 11 sitting 10th in the Chase standings.
Charlotte is where his Chase took the hit. Per NASCAR.com, Alex Bowman got loose in Turn 2 with three laps left in Stage 1 and slammed into Wallace while they battled for 5th. Wallace hit the outside wall, then backed into the inside wall. He was checked and released, but he was scored 37th. Bowman took the blame afterward.
He finished the year strong anyway. He led 52 laps at Phoenix, ran 8th at Martinsville and closed the season 5th at Homestead. His Chase average finish was 13.5. Take out Charlotte and it was 10.9, with six top 10s in 10 races. He finished 11th in the final standings.
One thing stayed the same all year: crew chief Charles Denike called all 36 races on the number 23.
What 2027 Looks Like
Wallace is expected back in the number 23. Hardee's renewed its multi-year sponsorship with 23XI Racing and Wallace on Oct. 8, but as of today his driver contract for 2027 has not been formally announced. Corey Heim is set to join the team in the number 35. Follow every ride and crew chief move on our 2027 silly season tracker.
The 2027 season starts with the Clash at Daytona on Feb. 13, then the Daytona 500 on Feb. 21. Start times and channels for every race are on our race TV guide. Every other driver's grade is on the 2026 report cards page.
The Bottom Line
Wallace graded out better than the champion without winning a race. Clean up a few of those 28th-or-worse Sundays and turn one of the three runner-up runs into a trophy, and this card reads like a contender's.
2026 Daytona 500 Gear
We do not have any Bubba Wallace gear in stock right now. His best day of 2026 might have been the Daytona 500, where he led 40 laps and won Stage 2, so here is the gear from that race.
- 2026 Daytona 500 Race Trophy Logo T-Shirt
- 2026 Daytona 500 Trophy Structured Black Hat
- 2026 Daytona 500 Patriotic Event Hat
- 2026 Daytona 500 Vintage Blue Racing Hat
Sources: NASCAR official race results and loop data for all 36 2026 points races; Daytona 500 details via Speedway Media; San Diego details via FOX Sports; Atlanta penalty via Heavy and FOX Sports; New Hampshire and Charlotte details via NASCAR.com; Chase seeding via Yardbarker; sponsorship renewal via Jayski.
