Broken Toe Link Can’t Keep Wallace Out Of Iowa Top 10

Bubba Wallace's crew works on his car on pit road Sunday at Iowa Speedway. (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

NEWTON, Iowa – 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace rallied from a broken toe link to finish inside the top 10 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.

It certainly didn’t appear a positive result was in the cards for Wallace early in the final third of the race, however, as contact from Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek sent Wallace’s No. 23 Alltroo Toyota Camry XSE bouncing off the outside wall on the frontstretch with 108 laps remaining.

One lap later, the Brickyard 400 winner’s sluggish pace due to a broken right rear toe link caused a chain reaction that sent fellow Toyota Racing driver, and Nemechek’s teammate, Erik Jones spinning into the infield.

During the ensuing caution, the 30-year-old brought his wounded Toyota to the attention of his Charles Denike-led pit crew.

Car chief Scott Darnell and mechanic Bobby Banks, both former crew members at Action Express Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series with experience replacing toe links, quickly went to work.

The toe link swap ultimately cost Wallace two laps to the leaders, but the team beat the Damaged Vehicle Policy’s clock and didn’t have to go to the garage for further repairs.

Wallace repaid his crew’s valiant effort after that with a spirited drive.

Though the Mobile, Ala. native wasn’t in position for the free pass on the next two cautions – with 96 and 86 laps to go, respectively – he was the beneficiary for the final two cautions of the race. A debris caution with 69 to go put Wallace back on the lead lap for good.

When the race restarted with 64 laps left, the recent crown-jewel race winner lined up 32nd. With fresh tires by virtue of pitting during the final caution, Wallace methodically worked his way forward.

While Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was on an identical pit stop strategy, the 2020 Cup Series champion stalled out in 14th. Wallace, meanwhile, climbed into the top 10 with ease.

“It was interesting because I told them don’t bring this setup since it’s a little reminiscent of Richmond every time we come here,” Wallace said. “I ran well at the end, so there’s some things to take from there. I thought our crew did an amazing job making all the repairs. 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.”

Ultimately, the rally back through the field ended with Wallace in sixth at the checkered flag.

“I was just relaxed the whole time, really,” Wallace explained. “It was interesting to see how things shook out. We had an up and down day. I was ready to just debrief the whole car mid-race and figure out what we needed to do to just wholesale it. We had our issues but just fought really hard to get our Alltroo Camry back in the top 10.

“I felt really good firing off, and I was really hesitant on how that was going to last and here we are [in] P6 after all of that. After the middle part of the race, if you would have told me we would finish sixth I would have told you ‘Alright, amazing.’”

Next for Wallace, and the rest of the Cup Series field, is New York’s Watkins Glen Int’l for the final road course race of the regular season. In six starts at the historic circuit, Wallace has a best finish of 12th in 2023.

Broadcast coverage of the Go Bowling at the Glen is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 10, at 2 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.