Every once in a while, NASCAR sees a crash that is truly horrifying to watch, and that’s what happened to Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. on Sunday at Pocono Raceway — the track also known as the Tricky Triangle.
Late in the Gander Outdoors 400 — which Kyle Busch ultimately won — Wallace slammed into the outside wall of the track, almost head-on and at nearly the same high speed as when he was still in control.
Despite calling the crash the “hardest one of my career,” the Cup Series rookie is OK.
He was able to climb out of the car by himself and was evaluated and released from the infield care center of the Pennsylvania track.
So what exactly happened?
Simply, brake failure, according to Wallace. With about seven laps remaining in the scheduled race length — it went into overtime — the No. 43 Ford driver was coming into Turn 1 when he lost control of the car.
As he explained to NBC on Sunday after being cleared by the medical staff:
“The lap before, I was holding off Aric (Almirola), the 10 car, going into (Turn) 1, and the pedal went to the floor, so I went to the bottom. Your natural instinct is just to try and use up all the track when that happens. So went to the floor, pump it up, get through the tunnel (on the track) and through (Turn) 3 here, and then down into (Turn) 1, I started pumping it right past the start-finish line.
“And it blew, and I should have hooked it right into the fence and stayed up there to slow me down, but I’m used to turning left.”
With literally split seconds to make a decision, Wallace ended up at the bottom of the track and flying through the grass.
As FOX Sports’ Adam Alexander later explained, “Once you get into the grass, it is just hang on and ride it out.” And that’s what Wallace was forced to do.
But as fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger explained, Wallace’s crash could have been significantly worse:
“As he started (losing control), he said he should have turned right. It’s so hard to get yourself mentally, as you lose the brakes, to say, ‘You know what — turn right, straighten to the wall right now, and use the wall to slow yourself down,’ which would make the blow of hitting the wall a lot less. But as drivers, our thought is to try and save it, get away from the wall. Well unfortunately when you don’t have brakes, you don’t stop.”
Allmendinger continued to break down how as Wallace shot out from the grass, he was able to turn the wheel to the left and slightly straighten out, “cushioning it on the right side of the door instead of hitting it head-on, and that’s the toughest thing as a driver.”
His car also his the wall so hard it cracked the concrete behind the track barrier.
In good spirits after the terrifying wreck, Wallace shed some light to NBC about what he was thinking as this all played out in a matter of seconds.
Outside the infield care center after being evaluated, he even threw in a joke:
“There’s no feeling like being helpless in that situation going off into Turn 1, and it scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know if I was going to remember it if I hit or not so we’re good. Bit my cheek, banged my foot off the pedal. I’m OK though. I’ll wake up tomorrow and be a little sore, but the safety’s come a long way.
“So it’s good to be able to climb out of the car. The EMTs were worried that I didn’t let the window net down fast enough, and I was like, ‘Hell, that’s the last thing I thought about! I’m sorry!’ But everything was good. They gave me an ultrasound, no twins or anything, so I’m good.”
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