“Hard to hang your head with a rocket”: Bubba Wallace reflects on a disappointing night after his dominant race was cut short in Kansas

Lady luck was not in Bubba Wallace's corner as the 23XI Racing driver made his first appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs this season. With the Round of 16 race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday (September 10), a track where Wallace won last year, the #23 Toyota Camry TRD driver suffered a tire blowout, ultimately leading to a P32 finish.

Despite starting the weekend on the wrong foot after failing Friday inspection twice, Bubba Wallace looked like a substantial threat to the leaders during the 400-mile-long race.

Stage 2 of the Hollywood Casino 400 saw the Mobile, Alabama native make contact with the outside wall of the track, with notable damage to his car. Onboard replays showed the reason for his accident to be a right-rear tire blowout, causing him to lose control.

Despite the tough break for the #23 crew, the #45 crew and Tyler Reddick managed to bring Kurt Busch's former car into victory lane again in Kansas.

Wallace was seen picking himself up while congratulating his teammate on social media. He tweeted:

"Hard to hang your head with a rocket..All ya can do is laugh and keep on keeping on. How bout ole boy @TylerReddick! Way to keep the 45 streak alive!!"

Currently sitting in P14 in the driver's standings with a deficit of -19 points, Bubba Wallace needs a solid result, if not a win, during the next event at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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Tyler Reddick offers his condolences for Bubba Wallace's bad luck at Kansas

The driver of the #45 Toyota Camry TRD at 23XI Racing, Tyler Reddick managed to secure his Round of 12 berth while teammate Bubba Wallace was dealt a bad hand at the Hollywood Casino 400 race on Sunday. Reddick, who managed to keep the #45 car's streak of winning at Kansas Speedway in the fall alive, sympathized with his teammate's misfortune.

Speaking in the post-race press conference, he said (via frontstretch.com):

“I hate to see that. They (Wallace) had a really solid car. They would have certainly contended the rest of the day as well.”

Wallace also seemed to take some of the blame upon himself as he thought running closer to the wall would have minimized the damage in case of a tire blowout.

Nonetheless, Bubba Wallace's bid for the upcoming Round of 12 seems to have gotten tougher over the past two weekends. It remains to be seen what comes from the #23 camp and the driver next weekend.