Buba Wallace had problems with loose wheels throughout the season. The driver of the №23 car had promising races hampered by problems on the road in the pit. Wallace’s disappointment seemed to have reached a boiling point after another incident on Sunday.
During the Ally 400 in Nashville, crew chief Booth Barker told Wallace he had to stop after leaving the road with a loose wheel, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic reported. When he tried to stop, his car was hit from behind by Tyler Reddick’s car.
Barker apologized for the incident, but Wallace was not present and responded to the NSFW, according to Gluck.
“Leave me alone, dude,” Wallace told Barker. “Don’t talk to me throughout the devil’s race.”
MORE: NASCAR in Nashville live updates, results, highlights
Barker continued to communicate with Wallace after the incident as Wallace tried to return to the dispute. Wallace was in the top 10 for most of the race.
This is hardly the first time the Wallace crew has had problems.
Barker and two other crew members were eliminated for four races by NASCAR in March after a wheel detached from Wallace’s car during a race on the American track.
Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi said that during the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, Barker told Wallace to stay on the track to avoid a crash, but the decision meant Wallace did not maintain a minimum speed. His car was sent to the garage, despite minimal damage. During the AdventHealth 400 in Kansas, Wallace was punished twice, once for jumping over a wall by a crew member too early and another for breaking a tire.
Wallace later approached his crew about the sentences in Kansas. The following week in Texas, he said, “We didn’t have a great day on Pit Road.”
“We’re considering the possibility of winning this race and it was very high and we never gave ourselves a chance every time we came across a pit road,” Wallace said.
Add Comment