Bubba Wallace had a difficult time at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend. The NASCAR driver qualified 22nd, and ended his race in a disappointing 19th place. Despite the heartbreak for the driver, a lovely family moment managed to keep him afloat.
Wallace started the Food City 500 with high hopes, and looked like he could finish in the top 10 at one point of the race. But his expectations eventually slipped away as his No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota struggled through traffic.
Following the race, he posted his reflection to X.
“Damn that was rough. Thought it was going alright and then just plateaued,” he wrote.
On top of this, the Alabama driver clashed with Chase Elliott, with the latter showing his frustration down his radio: “The damn 23 [Wallace] mirror drives us every week,” he vented, eventually finishing the race four positions ahead of Wallace.
Despite the 19th place finish being rough for the driver, hearing his wife make his child laugh was all he needed to start the new week on a high.
“Hearing my wife make Becks laugh on the way to plane. Made me realize, oh well move on. Nothing better than hearing that! See yall in dega, I’m out.”
Wallace maintains his 8th place in the standings with 251 points, 23 points behind team-mate Tyler Reddick in seventh, and trailing leader William Byron by 95 points, making this one of his better seasons of his recent career. The season’s battle will continue in Talladega after a week of no racing for the drivers.
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Wallace has a strong history at the famous Talladega. In fact, it was the place of his first ever Cup Series win in 2021. So while Reddick won at the track last year, it could be Wallace’s turn to push towards the front of the pack this time coming off a brilliant start to the season.
Kyle Larson took the win at Bristol.
“I think really what helps is that when you’re racing sprint cars, you get used to having to make super-quick decisions,” he said. “That’s really the way it is here in traffic at Bristol.
“It’s much tougher to get through traffic in the Cup Series than it is in Xfinity, just because the cars are more similar in speed. Regardless, I was able to lap a lot during the first stage, I felt like, before the track really opened up. That was nice, to get some guys two laps down early, and they didn’t fight me quite as hard later on.
“It was still a challenge. Denny was doing a good job chasing me through traffic. I just felt like I could move around a little bit better.”
In this article
Alex Harrington
NASCAR Cup
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
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