Bad news in Stage 2 for Bubba Wallace in Las Vegas. His crew failed to remove a lug nut from one of his wheels during green flags stops. Instead of making a four-tire change, the NASCAR driver received three new tires and was told to come back later.
Bootie Barker had his crew break out the biggest impact they have. However, it was clear that the crew would need to cut the lug nut off to remove the tire and replace it.
Bubba Wallace had a solid day but struggled to remain in the top-15 for much of the second stage. After this pit stop he fell all the way to P35 and was multiple laps down.
While Wallace was up front to begin the race, starting P5, he had issues with his car that led to him falling back. Still, the Toyotas were all fast today and his Camry XSE was no different. Had this green flag stop gone better, he might have found himself moving up in the field to end Stage 2. Instead, he went down about 3 laps.
With two top-5 finishes already this season, today won’t hurt Wallace too much. However, he can’t let this be a compounding issue. It was a random thing, the lug nut got stuck, now move on and focus on competing at Phoenix.
Wallace ended up more than 10 laps down after it was all said and done. Just a killer to a Sunday in the Cup Series.
Bubba Wallace falters after hot start
Last season, Las Vegas was Bubba Wallace’s first top-5 of the season. This year, he already has two P5 results in two races. He won’t be able to repeat that today after his issues on pit road.
The biggest thing that hinders Wallace is his confidence. He has found a new wave of confidence after finishing 10th last season in the points standings. That confidence has continued with his strong start in 2024, now he has to keep his head up high.
This does allow others in the points standings to make a jump on Wallace. He came in fourth overall and that is going to change once this race is over.
The 23 team has had their fair share of pit road problems. When an organization builds its own pit crew program from the ground up, there are growing pains. At this point though, those growing pains have to be over with and you have to just execute.
Will this end up being more than a one-race issue for Bubba Wallace or will he rebound in Phoenix next week?
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