Bubba Wallace recovers from 2 laps down to finish 6th at Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa — On a day where passing was a challenge, Bubba Wallace defied the odds to grab a sixth-place finish Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
After Wallace triumphed in the Brickyard 400, he entered the weekend with a little bit of weight off his shoulders as the playoffs looms in a few weeks.
The early part of Sunday’s race at Iowa wasn’t great for Wallace. He ran just outside of the top 10 and didn’t show much speed. He finished 13th in the first stage – and 25th in the second stage when a caution fell wrong for his strategy.
Then, things went from bad to worse in the final stage.
Wallace made contact with John Hunter Nemechek on a restart, resulting in a bent right-rear toe link and repair job that cost him two laps.
What followed was a lucky spree of cautions for Wallace. During what became the final caution, Wallace took his second free pass to get on the lead lap. Crew chief Charles Denike then brought him in for four new tires for the final restart.
The new tires brought Wallace’s car to life. In the final 64 laps, he drove from 31st to sixth to capture one of the most impressive top-10 finishes of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
“If you’d have told me we were going to finish sixth midway through the race, I would’ve said, ‘Yea right,’ but here we are,” Wallace said. “I was just relaxed the whole time, really. It was interesting to see how things shake out.”
NASCAR’s shortest tracks typically haven’t been Wallace’s bread and butter – up until recently. This year, he finished seventh at Dover and third at Martinsville.
Wallace currently is in a position he’s never been in – having time to spare before racing in the playoffs. That could bring about some different strategy plays for the No. 23 team in the coming weeks. Knowing how valuable playoff points are, they may try to stay out in the stages at Watkins Glen to grab some points – or they may stay the course if they believe they have a car capable of winning.
Over the next three weeks, Wallace has a good chance of securing his first multi-win season. Last time he was at Richmond, Wallace finished fourth. He is also strong at superspeedways, especially the summer Daytona race. In eight career summer Daytona races, his worst finish is 15th and his average finish is 10th.
“I said earlier this weekend that we have to expose our weaknesses and I think we put everyone to the test today. It will be nice to see where we did fall, because I didn’t see anything there. Just a hell of a team effort,” Wallace said.
The NASCAR Cup Series will twist and turn its attention to the lefts and rights of Watkins Glen. The Go Bowling at the Glen is set to go green Sunday, Aug. 11, at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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