WATCH: Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski involved in late crash at Auto Club 400

With less than 50 laps remaining in the Auto Club 400, NASCAR’s second race of the 2022 season, Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski were involved in a crash which ended their chances of coming away with a win. Creating the day’s 10th caution flag, the two came together and collected significant damage as the rest of the field dove to the bottom of the track.

Bubba Wallace got into the back left corner of Brad Keselowski as the latter moved down the track. The resulting contact turned the 6 car sideways as a cloud of smoke covered the area. Wallace, driving the 23 car owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow driver Denny Hamlin, took responsibility for the late crash in a radio transmission broadcast on FOX.

“Tell the 6 sorry,” Wallace told his crew chief after the crash. “Just lost the nose, been fighting that all day.”

Big trouble in Fontana! Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric involved. pic.twitter.com/s5fnvwDqr0

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 27, 2022

FOX broadcaster and former NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer provided his immediate reaction to the Auto Club 400 crash, explaining the situation Wallace found himself in late in the race.

“You either wreck yourself right there or you lift out of the gas,” said Bowyer. “He didn’t lift out of the gas.”

Bowyer notably reconsidered his analysis after hearing new radio evidence and watching the replay several times, saying that Wallace might have attempted to hit the brakes and lost control briefly before the contact.

Bubba Wallace finishes second at Daytona

The Daytona 500 went to overtime after a late flurry of wrecks created a green-white-checkered finish and a close call at the line. Bubba Wallace’s 23 car made a late run on rookie Austin Cindric’s 2 car, which also got caught in Sunday’s crash, but fell short after a collision on the final turn.

As the two cars came across the line just feet apart, images of a massive wreck played out in the background. The finish of the Daytona 500 lead to hard racing, big wrecks and some damaged cars but no injuries.

After the race, Bubba Wallace expressed frustration that he finished second, but thanked all the people working at 23XI racing for the work that went into the car. He also made it clear that this team assembled last year by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, a pair of North Carolina natives, has put him in a position to compete in a way his former team could not.