The race at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday turned out to be a disappointment for two drivers. Both led more laps on the day than any other driver but neither won the race.
Bubba Wallace started from pole, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and led the most laps on the day 111. He was in contention for the win on the final restart but saw he all come apart when William Byron made a dive towards the bottom of the track under Ross Chastain and Wallace who were both contesting the lead coming to 6 laps to go.
Byron would go on to win, while Chastain held off Wallace who had to settle for third.
“Third time, I fooled myself starting on top,” he said. “These guys gave me the right information. 14 (Chase Briscoe) was tight and he sent it off in there. Wasn’t going to stick, but that’s what he’s going to do.
“We’re racing for a win. I just hate it. I should have just kept my line into (turn) three and forced William (Bryon) to get tight. But we’re so vulnerable in these cars, right? But just upset with myself. Really needed a win there, and it was a good showing. I don’t know where that puts us. I don’t really care. But I know what I did, and I choked.”
That was the second late restart where Wallace had to defend the lead. On a restart with just under 20 laps to go, Wallace raced side by side with Kyle Larson. Entering Turn 1 on lap 250 however, Larson underneath Wallace got loose. His Chevy spun into the outside wall and was destroyed.
Larson led the second more laps on the day, 99, and won Stage 2. He finished the day 31st. He was quick to deflect blame from Wallace.
“Yeah, he did a good job to stay with me during the restart between three and four and all that,” Larson said. “I tried to open up and have my shape into one. With these cars, you normally don’t get sucked around like that, so I wasn’t really expecting that and thought that I would be fine. I just lost it and crashed.’
For Wallace he is now below the cutoff line to advance to the next round of the Playoffs with two races left in the round. He said all he can do when he has a disappointing race, like he did at Texas, is to learn from it.
“Yeah, you’ve just got to process things slower,” Wallace said. “I feel like I’ve made a massive improvement in that, processing things a little bit better, but when it comes down to crunch time, you have to keep it all in check. The best restarter in the game gives it up on a restart. Funny how that works. Appreciate everybody; McDonald’s Toyota Camry was good out front. Struggled in traffic a little bit, but we grinded, come out with a good solid points today. Appreciate everybody’s support and effort, and we’ll go on to Talladega.”
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.