NASCAR: Bubba Wallace replacement confirmed for Miami

With Bubba Wallace suspended, 23XI Racing have turned to John Hunter Nemechek for this Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

For the first time since becoming a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver in the 2018 season, Bubba Wallace will not be behind the wheel of a car during a race weekend.

Wallace was issued a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past Sunday, an ill-advised retaliation move which also collected Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and could have been a lot worse than it was.

23XI Racing announced that they are in full alignment with NASCAR’s decision to suspend the 28-year-old native of Mobile, Alabama for this Sunday afternoon’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and they confirmed that his replacement is set to be John Hunter Nemechek.

Nemechek nearly got an opportunity to compete for the team earlier this year as a replacement driver, and now he is indeed set to get that chance.

Team co-owner Denny Hamlin had stated that the 25-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina native, who has driven full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series since last season, was originally the team’s emergency replacement driver.

However, when Kurt Busch was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms as a result of a single-car qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway back in July, the organization ultimately turned to Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series driver Ty Gibbs to fill in.

Gibbs is set to make his 14th consecutive start in place of Busch in this Sunday’s 267-lap race at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead, Miami oval.

With 23XI Racing having moved Gibbs to Wallace’s #23 Toyota and Wallace to Busch’s #45 Toyota for the playoffs, since the #45 team was still in contention for the owner championship, Nemechek is set to make his first Cup Series start in nearly two years behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota.

He is set to become the fifth driver to compete for 23XI Racing. In addition to Wallace, Busch, and Gibbs, Ty Dillon has competed for the team in the past. Dillon drove for the team in their first ever Cup Series race, the 2021 Clash preseason exhibition event, at the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Current Richard Childress Racing driver Tyler Reddick is set to replace Busch full-time next year following a contract buyout.

Tune in to NBC this Sunday, October 23 at 2:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. If you haven’t yet begun a free trial of FuboTV, do so now!