Bubba Wallace mounted a major comeback on Sunday at Naval Base Coronado, scoring a career-best road course finish in the process.
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Wallace entered the weekend with four career top-10 finishes and one top five in 40 Cup Series road course starts. A fifth-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course served as his milestone.
Yet, he surpassed this by crossing the line in second place behind Corey Heim on Naval Base Coronado. He also pulled this off after losing a wheel and being held on pit road for two laps.
The incident occurred in the race's opening stage. Wallace, who had qualified 12th, made his pit stop with three laps remaining in the opening stage. He joined Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher among others.
Once Wallace pulled back onto the track, he immediately complained over the radio about an issue with his wheel. The team confirmed that he had a problem, and they told him to nurse his way back to pit road.
We're not mechanics, but we think that's supposed to be attached to the race car. pic.twitter.com/KP3cWXQjEy
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 21, 2026
He did not make it. The right front wheel detached while he navigated the course. This brought a mandatory two-lap penalty, which meant that he spent the closing laps of the stage idle on pit road. He will also lose two crew members to a suspension for the next two weeks.
"There it (expletive) went! You've gotta be (expletive) kidding me," Wallace yelled after the wheel disconnected.
This should have ruined any opportunity for a comeback, but Wallace had some factors working in his favor. First, he had 55 laps remaining in the road course race. He also knew he would have some opportunities to get laps back under caution.
The first free pass came early in the second stage. A gearbox failure on the No. 20 Toyota brought out the caution and put Wallace only one lap down.
The next free pass came on Lap 31. Austin Hill sparked a multi-car crash that deformed the safety wall and sent multiple cars to the garage. This put Wallace back on the lead lap and gave him an opportunity to spend the final two stages getting back into contention for the win.
He achieved this goal. He worked his way into the top five using both speed and strategy. He took the green flag with 12 laps remaining in the race in the top 10, and then he worked his way into the top four behind two teammates and Carson Hocevar.
A Hocevar spin moved Wallace up another spot. He remained in the top four for the rest of the race while battling Kyle Larson for position.
He lost third place to Larson with five laps remaining, but he passed Larson back with two laps remaining in the race. He ultimately moved into second place as Reddick had a flat tire.
Wallace didn't have enough time to erase a 10-second deficit to Heim, but he still crossed the finish line in second place. This helped him move to 11th in the Cup Series standings with nine races remaining in the regular season.
"It's just so many races this year had results with asterisk marks besides them," Wallace told pit reporter Kim Coon. "Like the what ifs, right? What if everything went okay?
"After every race, we do a debrief and we have to fill out, 'Was it a green race or was it not green?' Meaning, did everything go according to plan? And here's another 'No.'
"Hate it, hate it for my crew, because they are bad asses, and just one little mistake cost us. It'll cost us the next couple weeks. So I had to roll the sleeves up and go have some fun."
