Wallace Avoids Multi-Car Incident, Finishes 13th in Talladega

Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 6 Kleen Performance Products Ford Mustang, narrowly avoided a multi-car incident following an overtime restart in the NASCAR XFINITY Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon, earning a 13th-place finish.

“Man that was close,” said Wallace after the race. “I’m glad we were able to get through that and bring our Kleen Performance Products Ford Mustang home with a decent finish. We just couldn’t get our line rolling there until the very end and I hooked with the (No.) 98 and we began to move. We’ll take this heading into the off-week and get ready to go again.”

Wallace took the green flag from the 15th position for the scheduled 113-Lap event and maintained his track position until the competition caution came out on Lap 20. When the race went back to green on Lap 25, Wallace wasted little time trying to move forward, utilizing the middle lane of several rows of three-wide racing. The Roush Fenway Racing driver made his way up to 13th before his progress stalled and he was shuffled outside of the top 20.

Then, following a Lap 39 caution period, Wallace drove his way into the top 10 and up to the ninth position. Wallace remained in the top-10 until the first round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 73. Upon returning to the track following the stop, Wallace found himself outside of the lead pack but an opportune caution on Lap 83 allowed the driver of the Kleen Performance Mustang to regain his lost track position.

Wallace again raced his way back into the top 10 following the Lap 86 restart but was shuffled out during a three-wide scramble coming off of the fourth corner. Wallace would battle back into the top 15 just prior to the caution coming out on Lap 110, leading to overtime.

In the closing stages, Wallace drafted with fellow Ford Performance driver Aric Almirola and moved his way into the top 10 before narrowly avoiding a multi-car incident on the final lap. In the end, Wallace was scored with a 13th-place finish.

Next up for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is Dover International Speedway on Saturday, May 14.

RFR PR