Bubba Wallace had a nightmare day at the Coca-Cola 600, as he failed to finish for the third consecutive race, while Tyler Reddick showed him up with a strong showing
Bubba Wallace was left reeling after his confident pre-race remarks were followed by a disastrous performance at the Coca-Cola 600, marking his third consecutive failure to finish a NASCAR Cup Series race.
The race marked the start of a new Amazon Prime Video TV deal, which saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards both catch the eye on the coverage while Chase Elliott pointed the finger of blame squarely at himself after a disappointing performance. But he wasn’t the only big name to leave frustrated and his issues with finishing sixth were minimal compared to Wallace.
Despite having a strong season start, Wallace, who had a costly “lapse” in a recent race, struggled in the Crown Jewel event, which was ultimately won by Ross Chastain in a thrilling finish. Prior to the race, Wallace had expressed his confidence, highlighting his team’s speed and intermediate track abilities, as well as his position in the points standings.
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“I’ve never been 10th in points 12 races in,” he stated. “I’ve always been the drama for the last four races leading up to the playoffs of trying to make it. Not saying we’re locked in by any means … but (66) points to the good, never said that before.”
When discussing the Coca-Cola 600 and his expectations, Wallace said: “It’s going to be a dog fight for 600 miles. I have looked at that before as like, ‘Damn, we’re already at a negative.’ Well, there’s no different than going out last and hitting the wall and starting in the 20s, right?
“You just have to execute. You have to show up and treat it like a normal race. We have the speed. We’re confident in our people, confident in our equipment, and, I think, where we’re at now at this point in the season, never been here before. That gives you confidence, too.”
Despite his positive attitude and pre-race confidence, Wallace and his No. 23 team faced significant challenges on the track.
To compound the misery, his teammate Tyler Reddick, who hasn’t hidden his problems with intermediate tracks this year, appeared to discover much more speed to leave Wallace’s performance looking even worse.
Reddick managed to place second in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2, while Wallace lagged behind at 30th and 25th positions, displaying a noticeable gap from the performance of Reddick’s No. 45 car.
The situation deteriorated further for Wallace when a blown engine from Carson Hocevar initiated the final stage, causing Wallace to incur damage in the ensuing chaos.
Reddick’s day also took a downturn, encountering a pit road penalty before spiraling out of control and crashing into the wall late in the race, resulting in a 26th-place finish. But he at least delivered far more speed after team co-owner Denny Hamlin declared on Saturday that Reddick needed changes.
“The 45 team specifically needs a reset,” Hamlin observed. “They need to get back to the basics and not chase a bunch of things.
“Certainly, with the success that now the 20 (Christopher Bell) and the 11 (Hamlin) has on the intermediates, I think that sometimes you can get caught kind of focusing on the wrong things.
“I think they’ve just got to get reset. I think they’re all talented – driver, crew chief, team. The cars I know have speed in them. They’re just struggling to find the balance right now.”
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