'Replay every scenario': Las Vegas win slips away from Bubba Wallace

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

'Replay every scenario': Las Vegas win slips away from Bubba Wallace

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Oct 4, 2026 9:45 PM ET

For a moment in the closing laps of Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it looked like Bubba Wallace was going to pass Chase Briscoe with ease and snap a 44-race winless streak in the NASCAR Cup Series.

But despite hanging with Briscoe for the first half of the race's final run, Wallace's No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota began to fade with 20 laps to go. As Kyle Larson approached, Wallace had to play both offense and defense.

Larson passed Wallace for second, while Wallace's 23XI teammate in Tyler Reddick also went by for third. Wallace's freefall continued until he finished the race in eighth — a solid result to be sure, but disappointing given what could've been.

"Just try to replay every scenario," Wallace told USA Network. "[Briscoe's] car was just good enough to keep that buffer right in front of us. I tried to make one last charge at him, catch him sleeping into [turn] 1. Just didn't work. Got super tight, and ultimately paid a price on our front tires. Think we started cording the right front. Fell off really hard there."

There are less than 25 laps to go at @LVMotorSpeedway! @chasebriscoe leads, but @BubbaWallace and @KyleLarsonRacin are not far behind. https://t.co/zyF335Po8r
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 5, 2026

Bubba Wallace rebounds at Las Vegas

Wallace had to make his way back through the field after an equipment interference penalty on pit road took him from what would've been the front row of a restart to the rear of the pack.

"Just hate that we had a penalty," Wallace said. "Trying to come from the back, it's difficult. In the Chase, you can't have any mistakes. They rebounded, pit crew rebounded, so I appreciate that. Just a hard-fought day. Just wasn't meant to be."

Wallace added that he thought Briscoe's car would fall off as his did over the course of the race's final long run, but it didn't happen.

"Just the way the cards fell," Wallace said.

With five races left in the season, Wallace is 10th in the standings, 137 points back of Larson for the lead. Finishing in the top 10 is very possible for the No. 23 team, especially with another intermediate track in Charlotte upcoming on Oct. 11.

Wallace hasn't finished worse than 14th in the Chase and has four top 10s in five postseason races so far. He has an average finish of 9.2 through the first five races of the Chase and has worked his way up to 10th from 14th, where he was seeded to begin the postseason at Darlington.

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

More must-reads: