When a driver buckles himself to his ride, the least he can expect is to be able to finish the race, if not win or finish up front. Putting so much on the line for a NASCAR race, and still not being able to finish stinks like nothing else. Thankfully, Bubba Wallace has not been on the receiving end of that misfortune for 25 consecutive races. However, another driver is right below the 23XI driver on that note, and might soon catch up with him.
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Chase Elliott, the Hendrick Motorsports ace, currently trails Wallace with 17 consecutive races without a DNF. But looking at the element of unpredictability in the sport, that might change sooner than expected. Just like it did for Corey LaJoie, who got caught up in the wreck that happened between John Hunter Nemechek and Joey Logano in Stage 3 of the Shriner’s Children’s 500 last Sunday.
“Unfortunately that broke out streak of 44 straight finishes, which is a stat that I’m proud of,” said the Spire Motorsports driver. “We got to hit the reset button on that counter. The last DNF was fall Talladega 2022, so that was a good little stretch for us.”
How did Bubba Wallace reach the top of the list?
The credit surely goes to Chris Buescher. Just before the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the RFK Racing driver was in a position to flaunt his 33-race, finishing streak, which was only second to LaJoie’s. But alas, NASCAR docked the number 17 team for a detached wheel. Needless to say, he wasn’t able to finish the race, and that opened the door for Wallace.
With the streak being broken came yet another sad news. Two crew members from the #17 Ford team, jack operator, Nicholas Patterson and front tire changer, Jakob Prall were instructed to stay out of two Cup races for violating sections 8.8.10.4 A&C in NASCAR’s rule book.
However, RFK Racing has recently revoked its appeal of the penalty and therefore, Patterson and Prall will not be seen in action in the upcoming race at Bristol Motor Speedway and then in the next one at COTA. Last week when Buescher recorded a runner-up finish, the duo was seen amidst the over-the-wall crew.
