LEBAN, Tenn. – Shortly before his qualifying attempt failed Saturday at the Nashville Superspeedway, Bubba Wallace said he was trying not to hold back anger after disappointing performances.
After making the fastest lap in practice on Friday, Wallace appeared to be a contender for his best starting spot of the season – he hasn’t ranked better than seventh this season. Instead, his car was not compatible and Wallace was ranked 30th for today’s race (5 pm ET on NBC).
Disappointment has been a centerpiece of Wallace’s season at 23XI Racing. The result is that he is 25th in the standings with 10 races for the playoffs.
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“We have to win,” Wallace said. “I don’t know if we can point our way inward. We’ve dug our hole deep enough to where we need to present ourselves and not retain anything.”
The key will be to avoid many of the problems that have affected Wallace and his team this season.
After finishing second in the Daytona 500 Miles, Wallace was no better than 10th. I had nothing to celebrate that day in Kansas. It was one of the fastest cars, but pit road problems, including two penalties, left Wallace frustrated with his crew.
His only other top 15 came in Atlanta. He ran second when the white flag waved, but fell back to eighth position before being picked up in an accident before the finish line. He finished 13th after what he called one of the hardest blows of his career.
Last month’s Coca-Cola 600 proved frustrating when the team made a mistake that caused an early departure. After being involved in an accident shortly before the end of the second stage, Wallace was on the clock of the damaged vehicle policy and was forced to do the minimum speed on three green flag laps.
His car had minimal damage, so the team made the decision to save the vehicle the rest of this stage and go after the group. But in doing so, Wallace did not reach the minimum speed and was forced to leave the race by the rule.
#NASCAR… @BubbaWallace on his way to the playoffs in the next 10 races: “We have to win.” He was the fastest in practice but finished 30th. Watch it today at @NashvilleSuperS at @NBCSports and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/E0tMuIb6mz
– Dustin Long (@dustinlong) June 26, 2022
Wallace finished last in Sonoma when his engine jumped after nine laps. This ruined the start of his free weekend. He, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric and another couple stayed in California for a few more days to relax, but Wallace admitted he couldn’t after that finale.
“It was really hard to really enjoy the early days, I just found myself thinking about competing and thinking about all the missed opportunities we had missed,” Wallace said.
Still, Wallace is trying to follow the advice Kurt Busch gave him last year before he became teammates.
“It’s just letting go of small things, focusing on the big picture, making the most of that moment. Making the most of that stage you’re in,” Wallace said. “Then you get a reset.
“Kurt Busch told me that after I left him in Darlington last year, he said,‘ Every stage is a reset. If you take something from the first stage to the third, you’re just hurting yourself and your team, so understand that and enjoy the moment you’re in. ”
“Sometimes it gets frustrating. You meet or you make a bad stop, or I go and bump into the fence somewhere. It makes you back down. You let it go. It’s built to stay there. I watch a lot of races where cars they’ve come down and they’ve come out and they’re just crushing and getting good finishes. “
This is what Wallace will seek to do from the depths of the field.
Pre-race coverage of today’s Nashville Superspeedway Cup race begins at 4 pm ET in Peacock. To get Peacock, go here. Race coverage begins at 5 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.