Wallace Moves Closer To Cut Line With Pocono Top 10

Bubba Wallace in action Sunday at Pocono Raceway. (Ben Earp/NKP for Toyota Racing photo)

LONG POND, Pa. - Bubba Wallace put together a 10th-place finish in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com that moved him back into playoff contention.

After entering the weekend below the cutline and fresh off a $50,000 dollar fine from his post race actions at the Chicago (III.) Street Race, Wallace narrowed the distance to 16th place on the postseason grid by 18 points thanks to trouble for rival Ross Chastain.

Chastain spun out by himself and crashed in turn three on lap 53, creating a golden opportunity for Wallace.

Sunday’s positive result came in the wake of a frustrating Saturday, where Wallace experienced trouble in qualifying. Entering turn two on his hot lap, Wallace clipped the apron over the tunnel and crossed over the track bumps awkwardly.

Instead of starting the weekend right, Wallace found himself in a hole to start the race, having to come from 29th on the grid. Still, however, the end result somewhat made up for it.

“It’s about points, so we didn’t capitalize on points, but the No. 1 [Chastain] had a bad day, and the No. 54 [Ty Gibbs, who blew an engine late in the race] had a bad day … so it was a nice rebound for us,” noted Wallace after the race.

To counter his lack of track position, Wallace and crew chief Bootie Barker flipped both stage one and stage two by pitting before the stage cautions, allowing them the ability to stay out and gain spots on the back end.

“Usually, it’s the opposite. We start really well and end up fading and giving up a lot of track position,” he explained. “Here, we were able to call a good strategy and hang on. We just didn’t have the car [to win].”

Wallace now trails Chastain by just 27 points after his third top 10 in five Pocono starts with 23XI Racing.

Additionally, the 30-year-old collected his sixth top-10 finish of the season. It was his second such result since the Coca-Cola 600 in May and his best finish since coming home seventh at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

Wallace and 23XI will look to continue their recent momentum at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he earned top 10s in the last two races on the 2.5-mile IMS oval in 2019 and 2020 with Richard Petty Motorsports.

“[We’re] going to have a good debrief tomorrow,” Wallace continued. “All in all, I was trying to have fun in the first [two] stages; that’s what I said I was going to do.

“Was trying my butt off [all race long] and here we are.”

Broadcast overage of the 30th anniversary Brickyard 400 begins Sunday, July 21 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.