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Bubba Wallace Hoping NASCAR Takes “A Look” at the Next Gen After the Late Race Wreck at Atlanta

Published 03/27/2022, 1:56 PM EDT

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During the last lap of the NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta, a terrible wreck took place that collected over 3-4 drivers, including 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. After the race, both Wallace and his spotter claimed the hit was perhaps the worst the No.23 driver has had in his career.

But it wasn’t only Bubba Wallace who believed the last-lap wreck in Atlanta was one of the worst. The rest of the drivers who were involved in it had similar thoughts.

Now, this raises a question, a question regarding the Next Gen car and the impact it can take during wrecks.

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This was something Bubba Wallace also addressed ahead of the race in Austin.

“I saw the car. I don’t know what they, I mean, you know it was killed,” he said. “You’ve seen stuff ripped apart and been almost sheared in half and it’s like, ‘Do we want that or do we not want that?’ I don’t know, I’m not sure.”

“But I’m sure NASCAR is gonna come look at it or they have already and doing documentation on it, but yeah, that was a hell of a hit.”

Bubba Wallace isn’t exactly thriving alongside a teammate this season

In their first season, 23XI Racing fielded only one car, the No.23 Toyota Camry driven by Bubba Wallace. The 2021 season, despite the historic win in Talladega, was one tainted with inconsistent performances.

But it was a season, towards the end of which, 23XI Racing announced the second driver for the 2022 season, Kurt Busch.

While this raised a lot of expectations for the Denny Hamlin-Michael Jordan owned team in general, it was looked at as something of a boon for Bubba Wallace. Because with the veteran Busch, Wallace could learn and better himself as a driver while working in a bigger, much stronger team.

However, that hasn’t been the case so far this season.

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Five races in, Kurt Busch sits fifth in points, the highest Toyota driver (yes, ahead of his brother and Denny Hamlin) with an average finish of 9.6. On the other hand, Wallace sits in 18th place with an average finish of 16.2.

USA Today via Reuters

Although Bubba Wallace has come close to taking the checkered flag, almost winning the race on two occasions this season, the ‘almosts’ simply don’t count in reality.

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One feels that with a world-class team around him, with owners with high expectations, it’s time he delivers what he was signed to deliver – win races.

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Written by:

Shaharyar Khan Chauhan

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Shaharyar is an F1 & NASCAR writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in Journalism from Amity University, he has been a passionate follower of motorsports for a better part of the decade. A Max Verstappen and Ferrari supporter, he dreams of a pairing of the two in future.
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Edited by:

Ankit Sharma