Bubba Wallace looked set for a strong finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before a late move changed his afternoon. The 23XI Racing driver finished eighth in Sunday’s South Point 400, 11.422 seconds behind race winner Chase Briscoe.
Wallace recovered from an equipment-interference penalty that sent him to the rear and worked his way back into the lead battle. By Lap 216, he had Briscoe in sight and was close enough to make a move.
Wallace attacked the inside entering Turn 1 with about 30 laps remaining, but Briscoe held his line and forced Wallace up the track. The move tightened Wallace’s Toyota and damaged his right-front tire. He then dropped through the field and lost his chance to challenge for the win.
Bubba Wallace Loses Ground After Chase Briscoe Move
Wallace said he tried to catch Briscoe off guard as they entered Turn 1.
“You replay every scenario,” Wallace said afterward. “His car was just good enough to keep that buffer out in front of us. I tried to make one last charge at him, catch him sleeping into Turn 1 and it just didn’t work, and got super tight.”
The contact with the air and track position hurt Wallace’s front tires. He said the right-front tire started to cord, causing his speed to fall sharply.
“Ultimately we paid the price on our front tires, I think we started cording and right front. Fell off pretty hard there.”
The late tire problem turned a possible top-five finish into eighth. His final lap was about three seconds slower than the cars around him.
NASCAR Penalty Forced Bubba Wallace Into Recovery
The late Chase Briscoe battle came after Wallace had already spent much of the NASCAR race recovering from a penalty. An equipment-interference call on pit road sent the No. 23 Toyota to the rear.
Wallace and his crew fought back through the field. The pit crew recovered from the setback, while the Toyota showed strong speed once Wallace returned to clean air.
“Pit crew rebounded, so I do appreciate that. It was a hard-fought day … just wasn’t meant to be.”
Wallace stayed close to Briscoe early in the final green-flag run. He expected Briscoe to lose more speed over the long run, but the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota remained strong.
“I thought he’d fall off a little bit harder there at the end because we were pretty good on long run. It looks like they got a little bit better on long run, we got a little bit worse, so just the way the cards fell.”
Bubba Wallace Drops to Eighth in NASCAR Chase
Traffic gave Wallace another chance with about 20 laps remaining, but the battle soon moved on. Tyler Reddick joined the leaders, while Kyle Larson closed in quickly.
Larson passed Wallace for second, and Reddick moved ahead as well. Wallace kept losing ground before taking the checkered flag in eighth.
Larson finished second and earned 36 points. The result increased his NASCAR Chase lead to 40 points over Denny Hamlin. Larson has now finished inside the top five in all five postseason races.
Wallace earned 39 points and left Las Vegas 10th in the standings, 137 points behind Larson with five races remaining. Charlotte is next on Oct. 11.
The Las Vegas result also extended Wallace’s winless streak to 44 races. His recovery from the NASCAR penalty showed the No. 23 had enough speed to fight near the front. The late Chase Briscoe move, however, left Wallace fighting for position instead of the win.
NASCAR Cup Series Driver Hit With Crushing Setback After Late Chase Briscoe Move