No. 23 racer for 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace finished 29th at the Shriners Children's 500 on Sunday (March 9) owing to issues with his brake. Wallace's ride mashed into the outside wall in turn 1 on lap 267 after a brake issue caused his car to sustain heavy damage and a flat front tire on the right side.
After his early exit from the race at the Phoenix Raceway, Wallace talked to pit reporter Jamie Little of FOX Sports citing brakes blowing out as the reason behind an unfortunate end to Shriners Children's 500 for him. Dubbing the situation as 'unfortunate', the 23XI Racing driver told Jamie Little:
“Didn’t have any sign leading up to that last restart that we had. I just noticed about lap 3 or 4. My pedal just traveled further, and it had just by a little bit so turned on my fans, came back, and that was it."
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Wallace continued:
"Bummer. We didn’t have the best of start or best of mid-race for our Leidos team but feel like we finally got our big break ... cracked in there in the top 10...was going to make something of it, trying to survive and just got ripped out from right underneath us."
The NASCAR ace added that he hated the situation, given that he had a strong start to the season and was "pissed off about it". Bubba Wallace expressed that he felt like the finish he expected wasn't on the cards despite execution from his end.
Additionally, the No. 23 racer took to Instagram to share a video of his damaged Toyota Camry XSE and wrote:
"Brakes blew, and that's all she wrote. On to Vegas..."
"I want to be competitive": Bubba Wallace reveals his plans for the 2025 NASCAR season with 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace was the first driver for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned NASCAR team 23XI Racing for the 2021 season. In September last year, the team announced Wallace's multi-year extension with them.
In a media day interview in February this year, Frontstretch's Daniel McFadin asked Wallace if the contract extension with 23XI Racing has changed anything for him mentally. The reporter mentioned that he seemed down toward the end of 2024 but was looking lighter for the 2025 season, asking the racer if having the multi-year extension security helped.
Responding to the same, the 23 XI Racing driver said:
"I think the most important thing is I want to be competitive and just have a shot at winning each and every weekend. I have that opportunity now with 23XI.
"And when I don't win, I look at myself in the mirror and you know somewhat take the blame for it because all the resources and all the people are there and I didn't get the job done." (7:55 onwards)
The 31-year-old speedster added that a lot of stress stemmed from the team's performance in the last two seasons. Bubba Wallace said that if the numbers weren't considered, the previous seasons featured "the exact same thing":
"Just fighting for the last spot, you know, starting out really hot, then Wallace goes quiet for three months, then we go turn it up in the summer and it's been the same story like s**t," Bubba Wallace said (8:20 onwards)
Bubba Wallace started strong at the Shriners Children's 500m in 19th position, and made his way to the top -0 before brake issues forced his early exit. However, Christopher Bell emerged victorious at the Phoenix Raceway, claiming his third consecutive NASCAR Cup series win.
