Bubba Wallace fought hard but didn't have enough to take New Hampshire win from Ryan Blaney

Bubba Wallace said the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota he drove in Sunday's Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire was the worst-driving car he's had all season. 

It must not have been too terribly bad, however, as Wallace drove it to a runner-up finish at NHMS, finishing just 0.586 seconds behind race winner Ryan Blaney. 

Wallace got close to Blaney thanks to lapped traffic in the closing laps but was unable to make a run at him after locking up his front tires going into turn 3 with a handful of laps to go. 

"We fought, man," Wallace told USA Network. "Had a nice day just by myself, regrouping. Got the head right, knew I had to fight all day. That's what it takes. It starts with these people on the 23 team. They push me to be the absolute best. I fail them a lot, but they stick behind me. I appreciate that."

Despite coming up short at Loudon, Bubba Wallace in good spot ahead of Daytona

Wallace said the lock-up he had in turn 3 essentially sealed the race. 

"Picked up a big vibration on the left front," Wallace said. "That was kind of it ... Just salvaged what we had."

Wallace will go into the Aug. 29 regular season finale at Daytona 14th in the standings with a Chase berth nearly sewn up. He's 75 points above Ryan Preece and would need a disastrous day, along with huge points days from Preece, Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen to be in danger of missing the Chase.