CORONADO, Calif. — Bubba Wallace sat on the temporary concrete wall after the NASCAR Cup Series’ inaugural street race at the Naval Base Coronado on Sunday, June 21 looking stern-faced and angry.
In fact, looking at him, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that he had just completed a remarkable race comeback to finish second despite losing a wheel and going two laps down in the first stage.
“Go figure,” Wallace told media on pit road. “Drive your ass off on a track that you have no idea what you’re doing. Drive up to the lead, and then have it all taken away from you.
Early on lap 17, Wallace was running within the top 10 when he came to pit road for his first stop of the day. When he came out, he was scored 31st as the pit cycles continued. Regardless, his No. 23 Toyota Camry had shown the speed he needed. His confidence was high.
“I appreciate everybody back at Airspeed, [23XI employees] in the simulator room,” Wallace said. “I give them so much crap for the sim and trying to get it right, but we bust our ass to get that thing right, and as far off as the sim was for all of us in the field, I really learned a lot.”
But upon exiting pit road, he knew something was wrong. His right front felt loose. He reported it to his 23XI Racing team immediately and planned to return to pit road to tighten it.
However, the Coronado street course is over three miles long — the longest on the Cup Series calendar — and nursing a car with a loose wheel to pit road on such a long circuit is a tall order. Alas, it was one Wallace could not deliver.
The Camry returned to pit road but only with three wheels and facing a two-lap penalty per the NASCAR rulebook regarding lost wheel penalties. As the field paced around the behemoth course under caution, Wallace sat in his pit stall for 10 minutes serving his penalty and went two laps down.
“I’m not bashing anybody,” Wallace continued. “Pit crew, one of the best on pit road and had a mistake. We all have mistakes. Unfortunate that it cost us.”
But upon exiting, the driver of the No. 23 got to work. With numerous cautions and a high attrition rate, Wallace survived to grab enough free passes and get back on the lead lap.
With less than 12 laps to go in the final green-flag run, he was back in the top five. As more drivers had troubles in front of him, Wallace picked up some more spots.
In front of him, his 23XI teammates Corey Heim and Tyler Reddick were battling for the lead. With two laps to go, Reddick’s tire went down and Wallace went by.
After everything that had happened, the Alabama native finished runner-up to his part-time teammate Heim.
But that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
“My body language and facial expression will not show it, but I’m really excited for Corey and [crew chief Bootie Barker], getting him back to victory lane,” Wallace said. “But being a winner in the Cup Series is something that we all want to achieve.”
Wallace picked up the spots he needed to turn what was a bad points day into a good one. However, in the moment, Wallace felt the same pain every NASCAR driver feels when they finish runner-up.
“That’s what’s frustrating,” Wallace said. “Good day, I guess in second. Right now, the pain’s too deep.”
Moving on to Sonoma Raceway next week, Wallace unofficially sits 11th in the points standings, 67 points above the cutline.
A new father, he’s happy to end the day with his child.
But he’ll also be asking himself what if?
“It’s Father’s Day,” Wallace said. “My kids are here. I’m happy. I got the week off.
“It’s just, what if? I’m tired of listening to that.”
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT
A 2 lap penalty isn’t much of a penalty when those laps are given back. There should be no crew suspensions for the wheel coming off either.
Every driver being the first car a lap down gets one lap back. I don’t understand your comment.
I’ve never been a fan of the free pass for any driver.
Eliminating the free pass works for me, though if they do, I’d like to see them return to lap down cars lining up beside lead lap cars. Obviously not the case with Wallace this week, but cars often wind up trapped a lap down due to when cautions fly, not speed or knowable flaws in strategy. Made for some interesting racing back in the day, when a fast car was a lap down, fighting with the leader.
Most of the time, the lap down cars just got in the way of the leaders, and/or caused another wreck. That’s why NASCAR did away with it. Same with the cars being on the tail end of the lead lap in front of the leader. I’m ok with this.
The reply button is missing on Kevin’s point about lappers getting in the way, so I’ll reply here. I don’t feel strongly about it either way. I see positives and negatives to both.
I get what you’re saying, and agree that was often the case. But, if they eliminated free passes, it would be rare for a car to get a lap back. Seems it’s a pick your poison situation.
Getting the free pass after being penalized negates the penalty, I think is what he meant.
OK. Thanks. I preferred the old double line for lap down cars too, but that ain’t reality anymore.
In that picture Bubba appears to be looking out over his kingdom.
The wheel fell off during a caution on lap 20. He served a 2 lap penalty. Got a free pass on lap 31 and 33, had his best finish of the season.
The rear tire changer and jackman were suspended for 2 weeks. That’ll learn ’em.
Teams rely on computer software programs that allows them to manipulate situations such as this. It’s not the crew chief figuring out the best strategy, it’s the computer constantly predicting and analyzing the best outcomes. Give credit to the computer, not the crew chief.