Bubba Wallace spins amid brutal conditions at Chicago: 'Our sh** is killed'
The start of Stage 2 ended up being a disaster for Bubba Wallace after earning stage points in the opening section of the Chicago Street Race. This NASCAR race is getting wet and wild, folks.
Bubba Wallace held his own in the top-10 in Stage 1. Coming off pit road he was hit in the rear by his teammate Tyler Reddick. It was due to a bottleneck and pileup coming off pit road as the other cars took their positions after not pitting.
Then, when racing got going, things got worse. Bubba ended up spinning and hitting the wall, courtesy of the 48 car, Alex Bowman. He was not too happy after the fact.
“Our s**t is killed,” Wallace said via Jordan Bianchi.
It has not been an easy season for Bubba Wallace. Multiple times this season the 23 car has been caught in other people’s messes and it has cost them points in a big way. Now about 50 points from the cutline, Wallace is starting to enter must-win territory if he wants to make the playoffs.
Chicago wasn’t great for Wallace last year. However, he was making good pace early. Qualified in the top-10.So, now he has to hope he can get this damaged Toyota around the track for a solid finish.
While Wallace is having a tough one, he isn’t alone. When the weather is this rough, there are casualties throughout the field.
Bubba Wallace wrecks, SVG follows after
Well… there will not be a defense of 2023. Early on in Stage 2, SVG found himself taking a bump from Chase Briscoe and slamming into the outside wall coming out of Turn 6. After winning the first stage convincingly, the defending winner is done.
van Gisbergen, the race favorite, was involved in the Lap 25 caution after Chase Briscoe came sliding into the tire barriers. Briscoe clipped the back of van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Chevrolet, who then made hard contact with the wall.
So, what does this mean for the rest of the day? It means drivers like Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell have a great opportunity. While taking down SVG was going to be a tough task, this race is wide open now.
Currently under a weather delay for visibility, NASCAR hopes to get going again. This race has until 8:20 PM CST, 9:20 PM EST to get finished. At that point, the white flag will be thrown and it will be a one-lap dash to the end.