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WATCH: The Crash That Stole a Potential Top-10 Finish for Bubba Wallace at Daytona

Published 08/18/2020, 4:30 AM EDT

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NASCAR’s Cup Series debut at the Daytona Road Course was one to remember with it being a first for many drivers. The challenges of driving on a new course were made apparent almost immediately.

The final few laps of the race spoiled things for multiple drivers, but the one who suffered the most was Bubba Wallace. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver was part of a final lap crash that rained on his parade in the dying moments of the race.

Bubba Wallace was gunning for a Top-10 finish all day. With just two laps to go, Wallace was in eighth place and looking good. He lost his place in the next lap but was still ninth as the final lap began.

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Final lap trouble for Bubba Wallace

As the white flag dropped and Wallace crossed the start/finish line, he led a pack of cars very close to each other, into the first turn. Joey Logano then hit Alex Bowman, driving the No. 88 from behind.

That sent Bowman right into Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet and Wallace went off the course and for a spin. Luckily for Wallace, there was not much damage to his car. But he lost 16 places and suffered a lowly 25th place finish due to the incident.

Ryan Blaney also suffered a poor end to the race as he missed the frontstretch chicane in the final lap and lost his way. Also gunning for a Top-10 finish, he finished the race six spots behind Wallace in 31st place.

 

Playoff race out of reach for Wallace

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Bubba Wallace currently lies in 21st place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He has 412 points and is five spots off the final playoff spot. Matt DiBenedetto currently holds the 16th place, which is the last playoff spot. Wallace is 184 points behind him.

Wallace is in his third season, driving the No. 43 car for Richard Petty Motorsports. He was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2018, behind William Byron. That was Wallace’s first season in NASCAR, and he recorded two Top-10 finishes.

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His best result is a second-place finish at the Daytona 500 in the same season. He also has six wins in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. With his first in 2013, Wallace became the first African-American since Wendell Scott to win a race in NASCAR.

Jimmie Johnson Expresses Relief After Finishing 4th at the Daytona Road Course

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Written by:

Aayush Majumdar

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Aayush Majumdar is a NASCAR content strategist, a Tennis Writer, and a sports analyst at EssentiallySports. He is well-tenured as a tennis and NASCAR writer, with over 900 articles across both sports. After pursuing a Post Graduate program in Sports Management, Aayush explored various roles in Sports Media, including a Sports Reporting role at a leading English daily.
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