SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Bubba Wallace is not a road course ace in the NASCAR Cup Series. Yet in the chaotic finish in Sunday’s (July 31) race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Wallace wheeled his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota to a fifth-place finish.
Wallace scored his first top five and first top-10 finish in a Cup event on a road course. In addition, Wallace continued his streak of top 10s, giving him three straight as the Cup regular season nears its end.
“Chaos ensued into [turn] one and I closed my eyes and gassed up and we were sixth,” Wallace said post-race. “I mean, that’s what you got to do in those moments and so just proud of everyone for being able to put us in that spot. You know, it’s something when you come from the back of the field and get 15th. But when you’re right there at the front middle part it can really salvage a good day and that’s what we were able to do.”
“Luck,” he added in a post-race release. “I don’t know where we stacked up – top-20 all day. I’ve made improvements on road courses, but out there I feel like I’m busting out qualifying laps and it’s just good enough to get that position. I got to figure out where to gain speed. I’ve got a great team behind me. Everybody at 23XI, I appreciate it. They gave me a decent car – a decent car to go out and learn with and survive. A good day for Embrace – in their first race for us with our Toyota Camry TRD. It was a good day. Good day to come out of Indy with a surprising top-five.”
Wallace said he needed to gain speed, but he also took advantage of the varying pit strategies at the end of stage two. In fact, he finished third.
Wallace’s streak of three straight top-10 finishes gives him five this season, tying his career-high.
“It’s a really cool place,” he continued. “The last couple of races on the oval we were top-10, so it’s good come back and be competitive somewhat today. I still have to do a lot of learning on these road courses, but surviving, staying in the game. Crew chief (Bootie Barker), crew, everyone at 23XI kept us in the game to have a finish like this, so it’s good.”
P5 sound about right?😏 pic.twitter.com/79Dq0iJXJp
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) July 31, 2022
Wallace next turns his attention to Michigan International Speedway. Currently 20th in the championship standings, Wallace is in a must-win situation to make the…
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