Bubba Wallace had every driver’s worst nightmare happen to him Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Thankfully for the NASCAR driver he walked away from a crash that sent his car hurdling into a wall around 150 miles per hour.
The race week started out well for Wallace. Earlier in the weekend, Wallace signed a two-year extension with Richard Petty Racing that’s expected to keep him in the No. 43 until 2020.
But on Sunday, something went wrong with just a few laps to go at the Gander Outdoors 400 in Pennsylvania. A mechanical failure in Turn 1 put Wallace’s car in a high-speed coast toward the wall, unable to turn or stop an impact. His car slid hard into the outside retaining wall, somehow avoiding other cars as he coasted through the infield and then up the track into the wall.
Good shot of that Bubba Wallace wreck at full speed, going over 150 mph with no control of his car. pic.twitter.com/ogg4hYBgKr
— Cork Gaines, Ph.D. (@CorkGaines) July 29, 2018
Wallace was able to turn the car just enough to avoid a head-on collision with the wall, which likely was key in him avoiding serious injury. The wreck did red flag the race with just six laps to go.
“It’s just really frightening,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the broadcast. “Knowing that he’s not going to be able to avoid hitting the wall and figuring out a way to knock as much speed out of the car as he can”
The worst-possible place to have something go wrong. @BubbaWallace had one of the worst crashes of the year, and we're glad he was able to climb out of his car.#NASCAR #GanderOutdoors400 pic.twitter.com/Nx3wwaWwws
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 29, 2018
Wallace got out of the car and gave the crowd a thumbs-up, and he was taken to the infield care center for evaluation before he was released. He had a good line when he talked to reporters as well.
https://twitter.com/geoffreymiller/status/1023690260725878785?s=21
It seems the Wallace really is OK, which is a relief. NASCAR makes high-speed crashes look routine, but this one was anything but.
