NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

Bubba Wallace comes up just short of Atlanta win, but leaves with plenty of points

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Feb 22, 2026 7:37 PM ET

Bubba Wallace was the leader with two laps to go in Sunday's Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway, but finished eighth after the race's final restart didn't go his way.

Wallace was shuffled out of the lead on the backstretch with two laps to go after he blocked a run from Carson Hocevar, who went to the middle and left Wallace without a drafting partner.

Wallace, who led 46 laps and won Stage 2, faded to eighth by the time the checkered flag flew. He finished 10th in the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 after winning Stage 2 and leading 40 laps.

Solid points day for Bubba Wallace

While Wallace obviously wanted the win, he'll leave Atlanta second in the Cup Series standings behind his 23XI Racing teammate in Tyler Reddick, who won the opening two races of the season.

"And Tyler Reddick drives off into the sunset with no right-front fender."

Breaking down the Atlanta finish.@KevinHarvick | @ClintBowyer | @mikejoy500 pic.twitter.com/3rfp9XCQ1b
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 23, 2026

"Need to go back and see, I didn't think I moved up that much to allow - put myself top of three [wide]," Wallace told Fox Sports. "Unfortunate, but man, what a race car I had today."

Wallace finished second in Stage 1 and snagged a total of 19 stage points on the day.

"Go on to COTA, pray for me there," Wallace said. "We'll have some fun."

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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