Bubba Wallace may be in second place in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings after the first two races of the season, but he’s been disappointed in both races.
First at Daytona, where he finished 10th, and then a move late in the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway saw him finish eighth. For the second week in a row, Wallace had to watch as 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick drove into victory lane.
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Wallace said he would have to go back and watch replays of the final two laps of the race to see what he did wrong. He was in the lead when the race went to the white flag, but when he stepped up to block Carson Hochevar, the Spire Motorsports driver got to the inside of Wallace and took several cars with him. This left Wallace with no one to push him.
“I don’t think I improved that much to … put myself first, first in the third (round),” said Wallace, who led 46 laps in the race that ended in two overtimes. “It’s unfortunate, but man, what a good car we had today (Sunday). Man, what could have happened. Keep going to COTA (Circuit of the Americas) and pray for me there.”
Larson takes responsibility for accident
Kyle Larson led eight times in 48 of the first 160 laps of the Autotrader 400, but he made a costly mistake as he neared the end of the second stage. He tried to move to the bottom from the outside lane, but he didn’t realize Sean van Gisbergen was on his inside.
Kyle Larson’s car was towed off the track. Icon Sportswire – Getty Images
“I just screwed up,” Larson said after being ejected in double overtime, which Tyler Reddick ultimately won.
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“I knew No. 45 (Redick) was on my inside somewhere around the corner, but I avoided him. I didn’t fully realize that No. 97 (Van Gisbergen) had gone to the inside of him. So, once I was clear, I just wanted to shorten the gap and take a shortcut to the end of the stage. No. 97 was out of my mirror. I just went fast to the left and then hit him right. The other guys didn’t do anything wrong, it was all on me.”
While Larsson had to settle for 32nd place, van Gisbergen was able to continue racing. He ended up finishing sixth, his best finish on an oval.
Bush is furious with Gragson
Kyle Busch won his third consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship on Saturday at Echo Park Speedway, but he angrily exited the Cup Series the next day after an incident cost him the job.
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“I just didn’t have the best exit on the second turn, and I got a little curved as I approached the wall,” Busch explained. “I just got hit by the No. 4 driver (Noah Gragson). There was no check or anything. He didn’t give me a chance to make sure I was straight before he hit me, and he didn’t give me a chance to bump into me lightly to try to get the power back again. He went right through me. It’s bad for this team and everyone at Richard Childress Racing. We’re definitely going to be better than we are now.”
After two races, Busch finished 34th and 24th in the driver standings.
Four multi-vehicle collisions resulting in casualties
Superspeedway-style racing on the 1.54-mile EchoPark track is very draining for drivers, and with the close racing at high speeds on the track, multi-car collisions have become the norm.
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There were four accidents involving seven or more cars during Sunday’s Autotrader 400 race.
The first took place in the third turn on Lap 82 and involved eight cars: Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs and B.J. McLeod. Only Gibbs and Berry were eliminated.
The second occurred at the second corner on lap 103, engulfing seven cars. Participating are Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Herbst, Zane Smith, Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McLeod. This time Stenhouse was eliminated.
Icon Sportswire – Getty Images
Next, on lap 224, a nine-car collision occurred in the front section. That crash involved Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, William Byron, Reddick, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell and Connor Zilisch. That shipwreck wiped out Zilish.
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However, an 11-car pileup occurred at the third turn on Lap 257, causing the race to be suspended for 10 minutes and 31 seconds and dragging the race into overtime. These include Austin Cindric, Dillon, Noah Gragson, Hamlin, Logano, Byron, Gilliland, Custer, Nemechek, Erik Jones and Cody Ware. Byron accepted responsibility for the accident.
“I just didn’t have a lot of grip, so I was looking for air and let go,” said Byron, who finished 28th.th. “That was my responsibility. I was just pushing hard and had to get myself into some weird situations. I didn’t have any steering, so the further along the track I went, I kept turning to the right. When I slowed down, I was just hoping to get back to pit road, but then I got timed.
“It was a crazy game. Crazy, but nothing unusual.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Autotrader 400
atlanta speedway
Sunday’s results
Finish/Start/Car/Driver/Manufacturer/Lap
1. (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 271
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2. (34) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 271
3. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 271
4. (15) Carson Hocevall, Chevrolet, 271
5. (12) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 271
6. (28) Sean Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 271
7. (6) Zane Smith, Ford, 271
8. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 271
9. (26) Ryan Preece, Ford, 271
10. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 271
11. (4) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 271
12. (19) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 271
13. (29) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 271
14. (11) Noah Gragson, Ford, 271
15. (7) Chris Bushell, Ford, 271
16. (17) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 271
17. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 271
18. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 271
19. (24) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 271
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20. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 271
21. (32) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 271
22. (27) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 270
23. (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 269
24. (23) Erik Jones, Toyota, 269
25. (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 258 accident
26. (30) Austin Cindric, Ford, 257 Incident 2
27. (18) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 257 accident
28. (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, 256 Accident
29. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 256 accident
30. (31) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 223 accident
31. (38) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 220 accident
32. (16) Kyle Larson Valvoline, Chevrolet, 160 accident
33. (8) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 157
34. (14) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 124
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35. (37) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 111 Accident
36. (3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 103 accident
37. (25) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 81 accident
38. (10) Josh Berry, Ford, 81 Accident
Game time: 3 hours, 32 minutes and 27 seconds
Average speed: 117.865 mph
Margin of victory: 0.164 seconds
Top 10 in the first stage: 2, 23, 5, 24, 9, 45, 8, 22, 88, 12
Top 10 in Stage 2: 23, 24, 19, 45, 9, 77, 60, 12, 6, 97
Fastest lap award: #41, circle 246/29.715
Failure to qualify: without any
Warning signs: 10 laps, 67 laps; number of laps: 62-68 (first stage conclusion [77]); 83-92 (No. 11, 20, 21, 35, 41, 42, 54, 78 accident turn 3 [77]); 104-110 (No. 3, 34, 35, 38, 41, 47, 78 accident turn 2 [None]); 126-131 (stretch after event No. 8 [44]); 161-169 (4th turn of events No. 5 and 97/2nd stage conclusion [34]); 200-204 (No. 97 Rotary Turn 4 [34]); 225-231 (stretch before events No. 11, 16, 17, 22, 24, 45, 48, 71, 88 [44]); 239-243 (No. 22, No. 77 Accident Turn 4 [48]); 258-265 (No. 2, 3, 4, 11, 22, 24, 34, 41, 42, 43, 51 accident turn 3 [Red Flag 00:10:31] [48]); 267-269 (Accident Turn 1 No. 1, 20, 23, 45, 77 [22]).
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Clue changes: 57 out of 14 drivers; T. Redick 0; J. Logano 1; T. Redick 2; J. Logano 3; Redick 4-5; J. Logano 6-18; T. Redick 19-23; B. Keselowski 24-28; J. Logano 35-45; C. Elliott 46-53; K. Larson 54; C. Elliott 55-56; K. Larson 57; B. Wallace 58-59; A. Cindric 60-63; B. Keselowski 64; K. Larson 65-71; K. Larson 89-100; B. Wallace 101-102; T. Redick 103-109; B. Wallace 110; T. Redick 111-121; B. Wallace 122; T. Redick 123-130; K. Larson 144-149; C. Briscoe 150-155; K. Larson 156-159; B. Wallace 160-164; C. Hochevar 165; R. Blaney 166-169; Z. Smith 170; C. Briscoe 198; B. Wallace 199-200; C. Hocevar 201; D. Hamlin 202-204; T. Reddick 205-206; D. Hamlin 207-208; B. Wallace 247-269; T. Redick 270-271.
