It wasn’t a win, not even a runner-up, but Bubba Wallace’s sixth place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Iowa Speedway was a message to his fellow competitors.
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That message was crystal clear. The fact he was contending for a possible win for the second straight week after last week’s surprise victory in the Brickyard 400 proved that the No. 23 team could be a legitimate contender in the upcoming playoffs.
There are now just three races left in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. With his win at Indy, Bubba qualified for the playoffs for only the second time in his career. And his strong showing at Iowa moved him up by one spot in the standings to tenth.
But his Iowa finish was not easy to come by. Early in the event, he struggled and fell as far back as 32nd. He then had problems with a toe link that threatened to end his race prematurely, but somehow his team was able to keep his car together and he eventually challenged for the lead before finishing sixth.
Speaking about how he made his passing maneuvers stick, Wallace told Frontstretch, “26 of them (overtakes), apparently. [I was] just continuing to give feedback and these guys using all their tools that they have to get our Camry right. It felt really good that whole time there.
“It was interesting to see where it would go and man, it really hung on. So I appreciate all the hard work. That was a massive team effort all day. It’s interesting how a win last week can just totally change the mindset and keep you in the game even when you’re down and out two laps down. So all in all, (it was a) really, really good day. I’ll take it.”
It sure didn’t look as if it would wind up really good. But building on the confidence they gained from the win at Indy, Wallace’s team came through for him once again.
“I thought our crew did an amazing job, fixing all the repairs,” Wallace said. “I said earlier this weekend we’ve got to expose our weaknesses, and I think we put everybody to the test here today. And it’ll be nice to see where we did fall, because I didn’t see anything there. But hell of a team effort all day.
“It felt really good firing off and I was a little hesitant on how that was going to last. Here we are. P6 after that, after the middle way of the race, if you would have told me we would have finished sixth I would have said, ‘Yeah right.’”
As he looks ahead to the next race, Wallace essentially said that it’s not just the engine in his Toyota that is clicking on all cylinders, so to speak.
“Everybody’s head’s in the same spot and everything’s clicking right now,” he said. “(There’s) a lot to digest and move on to next week to Watkins Glen.”
