Bubba Wallace started on Row 8 and moved up the field to put himself in second place early in the Daytona 500, but it didn’t last. The No. 23 car took a bump from behind courtesy of Martin Truex Jr. and was soon in the wall and taking damage.
While he was able to control the car, Bubba Wallace did have to take a pit stop right after the field hit pit road. It feels like you’re just going backward when you find yourself revisiting the pit crew so soon after a stop.
Here’s the hit, and the save from Wallace. This could have resulted in a lot of cars being damaged. Wallace is going to try to work his way back up after this setback. He has a fast car.
Bubba Wallace of course went a lap down. He was hoping to put himself in a position to get the free pass when the stage ended. However, he entered Stage 2 still down with Travis Pastrana and others that had been penalized and made other mistakes.
Bubba Wallace Will Work Back to Front
It remains to be seen if he can do it, but the only option for Bubba Wallace is to make his way back up the track and hope he gets back on the lead lap. There isn’t much more he can do at this point. Things aren’t so bad, there have been worse positions for drivers.
The good news, it is very early on in the race. The bad news, it’s the Daytona 500 and each moment matters. This is going to be a monumental task for Wallace to move back up. He’s a good superspeedway racer, but there is only so much that will do for him.
The Daytona 500 is a tough race to even compete in, let alone win. Bubba Wallace had a fast car and was running solid laps early on. If his team can get the car put back together and get it running fast laps again, then he has a shot. If they don’t get back on the lead lap, then things are going to be a little bit harder.
We’ll see what this 23XI Racing crew can really do.
