Bubba Wallace gives his verdict on Phoenix DNF amid “strong start to the season”

Bubba Wallace opened up about his tough day at Phoenix after he failed to finish the race following a brake blowout. Wallace's #23 Toyota Camry XSE's front right brake blew out and forced the 23XI Racing driver to retire amid a strong start to his 2025 Cup Series season.

On Lap 265 of the Shriners Children's 500 race, Wallace hit the barrier at Turn 1 at moderate speed. He immediately lost control of his car and slammed the barrier again, this time at high speed, and ended up destroying the brakes of his #23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE's front right tire.

"Our brakes blew out, unfortunate. Didn't have any sign leading up to that last re-start we had," Wallace told Jamie Little of Fox Sports. (0:05)

"It's a bummer. We didn't have the best of start or the best of mid-race for our Leidos Team. But felt like we finally got our big break, cracked in there in the top 10 and was gonna make something of it, trying to survive. Just got ripped out from underneath us. Unfortunate, I hate it. We've had such a strong start to the season. But all in all, you can be pissed off about it, it is what it is... just wasn't in the cards. We'll go back home, fly back out here and go to Vegas."

Wallace started his race from 19th place and was running in the Top 10 when he suffered damage to his right front tire. Christopher Bell claimed the victory at the Phoenix Raceway, ahead of his teammate, Denny Hamlin. With this, he secured three back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series wins and became the first driver in the Next Gen car era to do so.

Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, and Chris Buescher finished the race in the top five, whereas William Byron, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Zane Smith, and Chase Elliott completed the top 10. Wallace's teammate, Tyler Reddick, finished his race in 20th place, and Riley Herbst had a DNF.

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How strongly did Bubba Wallace start the 2025 Cup Series season?

Bubba Wallace at the NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children's 500 race - Source: Getty

Bubba Wallace had a topsy-turvy start to his 2025 Cup Series season. Given the fact that Wallace's #23 car had a fair amount of speed, he wasn't able to convert it well in races. The #23 driver has been supreme in qualifying, but a superior finish or even a top-five finish is yet to come.

At Daytona, Wallace started his race in third place but had a DNF in Lap 197. In Atlanta, he started his race from 14th and finished in a much-improved ninth place. In Austin, the 23XI Racing driver qualified in second place but ended up finishing the race in 20th place.