Bubba Wallace reacts to gear issue, losing lead at Gateway after Stage 2 win

Bubba Wallace isn’t sure what happened with his car during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Gateway on Sunday. After the race, Wallace reacted to his No. 23 car being stuck in gear after winning Stage 2.

“I did it the restart before, and it was fine,” Bubba Wallace said, per Kelly Crandall of RACER.com and ESPN. “I need to go back and study how to do it better, but hate it. I don’t know if it gave the five (Kyle Larson) damage, but they were solid cars.

Wallace then said the incident was “not needed,” but when the race was all said and done, Wallace earned a top-10 finish (P8) and is now 50 points above the playoff cut line with one race remaining before the field is cut from 16 to 12 drivers. He sits in the fourth place in the playoff standings behind Larson, Gateway winner Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, who won the first playoff race last week.

Bubba Wallace had issues with Gateway before Sunday’s race

The eighth-place finish at Gateway is huge for Wallace, who has not finished better than 21st in his career before Sunday. “We don’t really have anything to brag about in the Cup car here,” Wallace said on Saturday at Gateway, per NASCAR.com. “Aside from our 2014 truck win — a little bit different.”

Wallace also talked about how he was excited to race at Gateway due to the success he has had at similar tracks this season. “Every track is unique, and every track is different. You can go back to Iowa and not have the same result that we did — that’s just how much things evolve and change,” Wallace explained.

“We just have to lock in, figure out what our car needs. This is probably the one out of the 10 that are circled that’s like, eh, need to figure out something here. Not in a bad way. I’m excited for the challenge and excited to figure it out. I think we’re in a good spot. It’s different looking at points now versus being on the bubble looking at points. I’m OK, plus 25. I’ll take it.”