Bubba Wallce was once more the bridesmaid and not the bride in the Daytona 500. Having shown that he can be a prolific superspeedway racer he came into Monday’s Daytona 500 having finished runner up in NASCAR’s biggest race, twice.
He said his finish Monday, and indeed his losses in the Daytona 500 are a result of not being able to have a chance to be in a position to win when it matters.
“We don’t give ourselves chances in the 500,” he said. “We’re always trying to come from behind, whether that’s my doing or just not executing. Unfortunate, you know?”
Monday a bit of luck played into it as well. In the closing laps his 23XI Racing team told him he would have to pit for fuel before the end. Had he been forced to do pit, his finish would have been a lot worse than his final spot of fifth. Wallace acknowledged that a late race crash that he was able to avoid, however, allowed him to stay out.
“Luck was on our side, but that’s not something we needed because we lost all our track position there,” he said. “Feel like you need to be in the top three rows to have a shot at this race. While we came from 14th, our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was fast enough to get to fifth, but you don’t know, right? What if we restarted fourth or in the lead?
“I don’t know, man. I’m so frustrated, but proud of this team. This was the cleanest 500 car I’ve ever had. That’s nice! Lot of positives. The team, 95% execution, but you got to have 100. I don’t know exactly what happened. Just didn’t need that, but proud of the race we ran. Have a full race under us to go debrief and come back stronger for the next race here.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.