Bubba Wallace has been brushing shoulders with Victory Lane throughout the 2026 NASCAR Cup season, but he has yet to reach Victory Lane.
Phoenix was just the latest close call for Wallace and the No. 23 team, which haven’t won a race since the summer of 2025 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Along with two runner-up finishes, he has led over 300 laps this year, which is more than any other driver without a 2026 win.
At Phoenix, everything was falling into place and Wallace was in control of the race when the final caution flew. He led the field down pit road, but left in ninth place. That due to the fact that three cars stayed out and several others opted for right-sides only while Wallace led those who took four fresh tires.
But he never got the chance to see what he could do with those tires, as Wallace was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. He apologized to the team and only managed to fight his way back to 17th after leading 52 laps.
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
After quietly exiting the car, Wallace put his head in his hands as teammate Tyler Reddick celebrated the race win.
It’s a story he’s lives various times throughout the year, with mistakes or misfortune denying him a win that was nearly his. Crew Chief Charles Denike was right there to offer him support after climbing from the car.
“Yeah, unfortunate,” said Wallace after the race, explaining why he got a penalty. “Our team is so good at finding all the gray areas to operate in and find our limits (on pit road), and I think I exposed it a little bit too much around the corner. Corner pitting is really, really tough. The lack of visibility that you have, you’re trying to, one, not try to run through too many boxes, but also not give up too much time because you can. You do speed up through those sections. And so you’ve got to remember when you speed up, you can’t cut too much distance (between the timing lines). And so when you cut too much distance and speed up, it adds to a speeding penalty, and I hate it for our team. This 23 group has worked so hard all year long and no results to show for it, or we come up just short.
Wallace also tried to look on the bright side, as 23XI still won the race and Toyota wrapped up the manufacturer’s title with three races still to go in the season.
“…So it’s frustrating,” he continued. “It’s super hard to be happy right now, but happy for the team, (the) 45 [Reddick] getting another win. Happy for Toyota, locked up the manufacturer’s championship. So it’s been really fun driving Toyotas this year, but I just can’t seem to close the deal out. So yeah, three more to go.”
On his post-race chat with his crew chief, Wallace added that “the most exciting thing is we get to go home tonight, and my family is excited to see me, so that’s what he reminded me of.”
23XI Racing has eight victories this year, with six courtesy of Reddick and the other two from part-time driver Corey Heim.
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