Bubba Wallace blows a tire, goes down multiple laps at Kansas
As he was running P2 to Kyle Larson in the second stage, Bubba Wallace found himself with a blown right rear tire and was soon on pit road. The toe link was bent and had to be replaced. Luckily, the 23 team was able to get it together before the Damaged Vehicle Policy timer ran out. The bad news? Wallace went three laps down in the NASCAR race.
It could have been a lot worse if the issue hadn’t caused a caution. Bubba Wallace was on pit road for multiple minutes. He made it back to the track before the timer ran out on his stop. With how well Wallace was performing, it was a tough break for sure.
Wallace was able to get the free pass to go two laps down under caution soon after rejoining the race. He needs more cautions in order to get repairs and to get back on the lead lap.
Bubba Wallace won this race a year ago and now he’s going to be struggling to keep up. The good news is that Wallace has already picked up a couple of cautions. However, if his car is damaged and not running as well as it was before, then none of that matters.
Kyle Larson looks to be the best driver and car in the entire field. That is especially true now that Wallace has taken damage and fallen down multiple laps.
Then again, who knows what awaits these other drivers at Kansas. Clearly, this track is beating cars up. Martin Truex Jr. was out of the race before Lap 10.
Bubba Wallace has a chance
There is a chance that Bubba Wallace can salvage his day. If he is unable to get a solid finish, around top-10 or better, then he might suffer a big points loss. It helps that Truex Jr. is out of the race, but it also hurts. That means drivers ahead of Wallace are also picking up points and spots in the standings.
Coming into the weekend, Wallace felt that this was his best chance to win. Now, he has to stay mentally tough and work his way back into the race. It might be one of his most important performances, even if he is unable to get back to the top-2 like he was running earlier.
A lot of drivers are having issues on the day and it has produced a great race so far. Playoff implications are on the line and the points standings keep changing with every lap.
Bubba Wallace has a long way to go. This will be a test of whether or not he is ready to take that next step. If he can overcome the setback, then he might be able to fight his way into the top-12 by the time the Round of 16 comes to an end at Bristol.