Bubba Wallace is one of the many drivers curious to see how the partially repaved Iowa Speedway impacts Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol.
Among the notable changes, the entrances and exits of turns two and four getting a fresh coat of asphalt. As a result, restarts should get pretty interesting especially if one happens later in the race.
Speaking with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Wallace quipped we could see a restart a la Denny Hamlin at Richmond earlier this season when he appeared to leave the restart zone early during overtime.
“Obviously, there’s a detriment because the asphalt ends before the restart zone,” Wallace said. “So, whoever is leading is gonna be so worried about what’s behind him and it’s gonna be like a Denny Hamlin restart at Richmond. So, don’t go too early. But yeah, just have to have situational awareness during those times and figure out where we’re at and go by that.”
Bubba Wallace in need of good run to get back into playoff race
Wallace will hope to be near the front of restarts as he looks to rebound following a pair of uneven runs at Gateway and Sonoma. After finishing P20 at Sonoma, Wallace slipped to 14th in the points standings and has even more work to do to clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season. Of course, the easiest way to do that is to find your way to Victory Lane, something Wallace last did in 2022.
Wallace has had success at short tracks this season, notably finishing P13 at Richmond and P4 at Martinsville. Since then, his 23XI Racing boss in Hamlin has noticed he hasn’t been as strong. Hamlin named Wallace as one driver who should be concerned about making the playoffs, he said on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast this week.
“Bubba’s got speed, but since the short tracks he hasn’t had the top-five speed that we want to see,” Hamlin said.
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