HAMPTON, Ga: Bubba Wallace’s strong start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continued on Sunday at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway where the 23XI Racing driver recovered from a Lap 2 crash to earn a top-five finish in the Ambetter Health 400.
Wallace qualified his No. 23 MoneyLion Toyota Camry 18th and quickly began moving forward from the drop of the green flag, but when Austin Dillon spun on Lap 2, Wallace became a victim in the largest crash in Cup Series history at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, a scene that collected more than 12 cars.
The Mobile, Ala. native suffered heavy front-end damage in the melee, but throughout the remaining 258 laps of the race, crew chief Bootie Barker kept working on the race car for his driver that allowed Wallace to enter the top-five picture in the closing laps of the race and have an opportunity to challenge for his third Cup Series victory.
Restarting inside the top five with the final restart with five laps remaining, Wallace was fifth coming to the white flag but embraced a huge run on the backstretch that allowed him to close on the leader Ryan Blaney who was under attack from Kyle Busch and Daniel Suárez.
However, when Wallace was preparing to set up to make his move to challenge for the lead in Turn 3, his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry broke loose on the bottom, forcing him up the groove and having to fight his car from colliding with Austin Cindric.
Wallace recovered and lost just one spot at the checkered flag, finishing fifth and claiming back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career.
“What a day,” said Wallace. “I’m so glad we’re done with superspeedway racing for a while. The mental toll it takes on you, to just making sure you make the right move for 260 laps, including the race last week too, is a lot.”
Wallace praised his team, who stood behind him throughout the race, not only from the Lap 2 crash but a speeding penalty through a series of green flag pit stops in Stage 2.
“(The) Team did a great job,” added Wallace. “I put us behind with that speeding penalty on pit road. Never gave up, though. Came from the back. Enjoying where we’re at right now. Just can’t get complacent.
“We get to go race the next couple weeks and really got to dig deep and figure out where we need to be better. I thought we had a fifth-place car and came home fifth. We checked all the things off, I just got to stop making mistakes and give ourselves a shot.”
While not celebrating his first win of the season, Wallace did offer congratulations to race winner Daniel Suarez who scored his first Cup Series victory since the 2022 season.
“Shout out to Daniel (Suarez),” sounded Wallace. “(I) Know he needed that. He’s been in that situation before, so nice to see him rise to the occasion.”
Set to head to the West Coast for races at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway, Wallace sits fourth in the Cup Series championship standings, three points behind leader Kyle Busch.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
