Bubba Wallace reveals details behind surprising brake failure that led to premature exit from Phoenix NASCAR Cup race

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace recently shared his thoughts about his brake failure, which resulted in his second DNF of the season. Wallace claimed that the heating up of the motors might have been the reason behind his early exit at the Phoenix Raceway.

Wallace started the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway in 19th position. He was running in the top ten in the final stage of the race, but with 46 laps to go, his brakes failed as he was making a turn. This led the #23 Toyota Camry to hit the walls as he later pitted and was unable to return and finished prematurely after completing 265 laps.

Ahead of the qualification for his next race in Las Vegas, NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass caught up with him. When asked about the reason behind his brakes failing him in the final stage, Wallace answered:

"Just brakes got too hot. So, I guess now looking at it the way I was driving the car and attacking the corners just trying to make speed. It was just putting too much stress and it bit us."

The issue stemmed from his brake rotors getting too hot. On a warm day in Phoenix, these rotors got overheated beyond their tolerance limit and became less efficient. This led to the brakes failing, and as he steered during the turn, his off-side front tire came off. This led to a caution because the tire left some debris on the track. He finished the race in 29th place after the DNF.

Wallace believed the high temperatures in the desert resulted in a sudden blowout rather than a gradual decline in performance.

"I had maybe two three laps of health, where I could have travelled further then it just blew out. So, in previous times it has been 10-15 laps where I was like 'okay, something is going south'. So, that one kinda surprised us. But we know what to do now not to get them as hot and keep driving," Bubba Wallace added in the interview to Bob Pockrass.

Bubba Wallace added that he had no idea of what was going to happen, as is usually the case. There were no signs of such a mechanical failure transpiring, and he was surprised by it. While his race finished early, he remains confident that the team has figured out the reason behind the heating and how to manage it in the upcoming races.

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Bubba Wallace on the track ahead of the Pennzoil 400

Bubba Wallace was spotted running around the track to the surprise of his teammate on the morning of the race at Phoenix Raceway. Tyler Reddick took to Instagram to upload a video of his teammate's run.

He seemed to be in a jovial mood before the fifth race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series. Wallace has had a mixed bag so far in the 2025 season. He sits in 12th place in the final standings with 102 points despite the disappointing results. He would be hoping to turn around these bad results at the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas.

A close qualifying on Saturday saw a field of 35 racers separated by 1.21 seconds. Bubba Wallace will start in row ten as his 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick will look to continue his good form this season in row eight.