Bubba Wallace Explains What Happened In ‘Hard’ Last-Lap Crash At Atlanta

Bubba Wallace was gunning for victory — until he suddenly wasn’t.

The NASCAR Cup Series driver explained the sequence of events that led to his last-lap crash Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Wallace was hot on the heels of leader William Byron when he collided with Justin Haley and Chris Buescher, ruining his chances of victory.

“I was trying to get a run on Byron. He did a really good job, his car was fast, and he was lifting to kind of block the run, which was the right thing to do,” Wallace said, as seen in video FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass shared via Twitter. “So when we seen the bottom (was) coming, I went down to block it and thought I had a good run to not let the No. 1 (Ross Chastain) get inside, and he got inside, and it was all good because I knew they would stall out a little bit. And then it was just bad timing of when the 12 (Ryan Blaney) and I got together. It looked like he hit the fence behind me, and I don’t know how I didn’t. From that point we were a sitting duck. I’ve seen that wreck happen, (but) my job is to get the best finish and stay in the gas.

“… That was the hardest hit I’ve had. I think that was harder than Pocono.”

Wallace ultimately finished 13th in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.