It’s not abnormal to find NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace in the middle of trouble, and this week at Talladega was no exception.
Wallace led the field and was in a commanding position in the race up until lap 115. That’s when 23XI racer Bubba Wallace got bumped in the rear by Ross Chastain.
Even though it didn’t appear to be a significant bump, Wallace lost control of the car. He cut across several cars and slammed into the wall in a wreck that eventually involved all but four cars in the race.
Most fans immediately blamed Wallace for the wreck, and maybe they’re right. Clearly, it’s not his fault that he got bumped by Chastain. However, is it his team’s fault that they had a car that was handling too loose and got spun out by a simple bump?
That might be a legitimate point.
As for Wallace’s team, they’re not taking the blame lying down.
“They wrecked us,” Wallace’s team said on radio after the crash.
After the race, Wallace took ownership of the wreck.
While fans wanted to blame Wallace, and there’s certainly to be made for that, other drivers laid the blame on the NextGen cars.
Here’s what NASCAR vet Joey Logano had to say about the race.
“Pick your poison. What do you want with this car? You want to save fuel, or do you want to wreck? It seems like those are the two options right now.”
The wreck eventually claimed 26 cars. Shockingly, that’s not the largest wreck in NASCAR history. But it is arguably the biggest wreck at Talladega that never should have happened.
Wallace will take much of the blame for now, but NASCAR has a real problem on their hands with these cars.