Bubba Wallace could’ve won back-to-back at Kansas in the fall race on Sunday. Last year, the 23XI Racing driver scored his 2nd career win driving in the #45, and this year too, he looked like a strong contender to win. At the end of the day, though, it was the #45 that won the race. But unlike last year, this time around, the driver was Tyler Reddick.
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Wallace suffered an unfortunate issue during stage 2, ending all his hopes of last year’s repeat result. The #23 driver hit the wall after suffering a right rear puncture, an issue which was faced by other drivers on the day as well.
And his race-winning teammate was more than sympathetic to him considering what he too suffered through this tire problem last season.
Tyler Reddick sympathizes with Bubba Wallace
During a post-race interview, Reddick was asked whether there was something he would tell Wallace to help him deal with the situation he found himself in at Kansas. Reddick replied, “Yeah, we’ll definitely talk about it tomorrow on our debriefs. But I think there’s been some things that I’ve been through last year that may help just everyone understand maybe what exactly happened. I had a lot of flats last year.”
Reddick claimed that while Goodyear has done “a really good job” of fixing the issues from last year, the reason we’re still seeing such issues this year is because drivers getting more and more speeds from the cars which in turn increases the forces on the tires. The #45 driver concluded his answer by sympathizing with his teammate, who could’ve had a different outcome if not for the tire issue.
“I hate to see that. They had a really solid car. They would have certainly contended the rest of the day as well,” Reddick added.
Wallace explains his tire issue, congratulates Reddick
After the race, Wallace gave some insights into what happened with his right-rear tire, which ultimately ended up compromising his result in the race. He explained that 4 or 5 laps before the tire gave out; he had figured out his line and his exit off of turn 4. But minutes later, the tire blew out without any indication.
Wallace also revealed what he could’ve done differently to minimize the damage as he said, “I’m pissed at myself I wasn’t close to the fence, maybe would’ve gone by with less damage but you’re never gonna get a flat tire or blow a tire when you’re around 20th. You’re gonna get it when you’re really fast.”
Having said that, he congratulated his teammate. “Congrats to Tyler, I’m pumped for him for sure,” Wallace said and claimed it’s all “good” because the winning streak of the #45 at Kansas in the fall is still intact.
