Bubba Wallace emerged from a heavy wreck near the end of Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400, gingerly walking away from his battered No. 43 Chevrolet after severe contact with the Turn 1 wall at Pocono Raceway.
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Wallace, a rookie driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, lost control at the end of the 2.5-mile track’s long front straightaway after his car experienced brake failure. Wallace gave a thumbs-up after stepping out of the car, but rested on the asphalt before being loaded into the ambulance for the mandatory trip to the infield care center.
“Hardest one of my career,” Wallace told NBCSN. “I was just telling them here, there’s no feeling like being helpless in that situation going off into Turn 1 and it scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know if I was going to remember whether I hit or not. We’re good. Banged my cheek, banged my foot off the pedal. I’m OK, though. I’ll wake up tomorrow and be a little sore, but the safety’s come a long way so it’s good to be able to climb out of the car.”
The crash forced a red flag with 154 of a 164 laps complete. Wallace was scored 33rd in the 40-car field.
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Wallace indicated later that he had sensed a brake issue was developing late in the race; the subsequent brake failure caused his car to cut through the infield grass entering the corner before it slid up into the outside retaining wall.
“I can’t remember if I turned left or if it just kind of jolted to the left and I should have stayed to the right,” Wallace said. “And I went for a hellacious ride and just for about two or three seconds you can really slow it down and you are just helpless. There is nothing you can do and you are just like, please stop. And it does, it does when it hits the fence and all-in-all it was OK, knocked the wind out of me.”
Wallace admitted that he created some tense moments after the wreck when he didn’t initially release his window net, a signal to emergency workers — and those watching on TV — that he was unhurt.
“The EMTs were worried that I didn’t let the window net down fast enough,” Wallace said, “and I was like, ‘hell, that was the last thing I thought about, I’m sorry.’ “
A BIG thanks to the @NASCAR Medical Liasion team. We know each time we go to the care center they will give us the information we need to know quickly and take care of our staff and family. The King was one of the first people there to check on BW, too!
– Richard Petty Motorsports (@RPMotorsports) July 29, 2018