Bubba Wallace matched his best finish of the 2026 NASCAR Cup season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, earning his second runner-up finish of the year.
It was almost a whole lot more, though, as Wallace closed in on eventual race winner Ryan Blaney in the final ten laps. With about five laps to go, Blaney got held up under the lapped car of Cole Custer, and Wallace was suddenly only a couple of car lengths back.
Unfortunately, he got into Turn 3 a bit too hot while pushing and locked up, sliding up the track. Wallace remained fairly close, but that was the window of opportunity closing as Blaney claimed victory.
“It did,” said Wallace when asked if that moment ended his shot at the win. “I picked up a big vibration on the left front. That was kind of it, so, didn’t need to make our great day go to crap and just salvage what we had.”
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford; Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Motorsport.com was later present for a media scrum with Wallace, where he expanded on a hard-fought day.
“Just hate we couldn’t seal it,” said Wallace. “The Penske cars are good at the flat tracks, so we really got to go to work. Really bad handling race car, so, it’s fast though, so that’s the frustrating part is you got to throw everything away that you know what feels good and just deal with it. And so, that’s what we were able to do.”
On the challenge of navigating slower cars in the closing laps as he tried to bridge the gap to Blaney, Wallace lamented that “the traffic was tough. Just tried too hard there around the 41 (Custer) and locked up and picked up a big vibration. So, didn’t want to end our day, so just kind of limped it around and made the most of it.”
Answering a question from Motorsport.com about the balancing act of trying to reel in Blaney for the win, Wallace said: “We kind of knew the first 25, 30 laps, they were better than us. And then we kind of leveled off. And so, I was just trying my hardest just to stay close within those first 25, and I think I just have to overcook my stuff.
“And so, I don’t know how long that run was, 70-something laps. For the last 40, I’m just hanging on, trying to make the most of it. And so, this track is a game of inches. And if you miss it by an inch, you miss it by a mile. And just got a little too much.”
While not officially locked in, Wallace leaves New Hampshire 75 points above the cut-line, which should be more than enough to be safe at Daytona as 76 points is the maximum any driver can score while last offers one point.
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