Overview
- A qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway destroyed Wallace’s primary 23XI car and forced the team to put him in a backup car that will start at the rear of the field.
- 23XI Racing says it changed the brake package for Pocono and believes brake-related risks that have hurt the team at the track are now fixed.
- Wallace arrives at Pocono on the heels of a season-best third-place finish at Michigan but still has zero wins and has fallen into the lower half of the playoff picture.
- Team owner Denny Hamlin called Wallace’s run a slump compounded by bad luck, and Wallace publicly acknowledged he has work to do to reach his championship goal.
- Pocono’s long straights and heavy braking zones make reliability crucial, and Wallace’s violent 2018 brake failure at the track underscores how the backup start and any remaining reliability issues could further damage his points race.