Bubba Wallace finally sees the checkered flag at COTA
While a 15th-place finish wasn’t stellar for Bubba Wallace, it was how he finally saw the checkered flag in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
Entering Sunday, Wallace was one of 24 starters who had been in every Cup Series race at COTA, dating back to 2021.
However, he was the only one of those 24 who hadn’t finished any of those races.
Bubba Wallace started the weekend with quick pace in practice and qualifying 10th — his first top-10 start at COTA.
Fate, however, wanted to quash those changing fortunes very quickly Sunday.
In one of the first corners on the first lap, Corey LaJoie got loose on- exit and ran back on course, crashing into Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.
“Something’s f-cking bent. It’s always f-cking something!” Wallace exclaimed over the radio.
The team had Wallace pit for tires only to keep him on the lead lap. They promised to work on the toe during the stage break.
During the break, Wallace was 32nd. They pitted and worked under the hood of his car to fix the damage.
In stage two, Wallace held serve, placing 27th in the stage. As the final stage started, though, he found himself back inside the top-20 by lap 41.
Toward the end, Wallace was up to 13th and eyed a possible top-10 with the right late-race push. In the end, he ended up 15th.
While not a great finish, Bubba Wallace reached the finish line of a NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA for the first time in four starts.
The recovery also keeps him four points out of a playoff spot early on in the bubble battle.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is March 31 at Richmond Raceway.
In the last Cup Series race there, Wallace led 80 of 400 laps and earned the fourth-most points of any driver that day (41). That was thanks to placing second and fourth, respectively, in the stages, despite finishing 12th.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com