Bubba Wallace had a chance Sunday to cement his place in the playoffs with a win at the Texas Motor Speedway. It was all there right in front of him, he had won the pole on Saturday and looked as if he would cruise home for the victory, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, Wallace finished third behind winner William Byron.
Wallace admitted after the fact that he didn’t get it done when he needed to.
“I choked,” Wallace told NBC Sports’ Kim Coon
Wallace led most of the race but as of now, he is on the outside looking in and may be eliminated from contention soon with two races to go.
A third restart ended Wallace’s chances.
“Can’t have the worst restarts when you’re the best restarter,” Wallace said. “That’s what happened.”
As Wallace spoke his interview was being shown on the big screen and the fans booed him.
“Oh, I’m booing myself, too, so we’re good,” Wallace said. “I’m one of you all today.”
“I just hate it for my team, hate it for my sponsors,” he added. “They put so much effort into giving me the best race cars to go out and win races and giving it up like that is heartbreaking, for sure. Devastating.”
So now Wallace has to put in everything he has to make sure he isn’t eliminated from contention but, he just may have wasted his best opportunity.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.