FRUSTRATIONS RESULT FROM PASSION TO WIN

Bubba Wallace says the pointed criticism he made toward members of his crew last weekend were a result of his passion to win and shouldn’t harm his relationship with them.

“We have a team capable of winning, cars capable of winning,” Wallace said as he prepared for the NASCAR Cup Series race today at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. “That just creates passion.”

That passion was on display last weekend at Nashville.

Wallace was in sixth place Sunday when a loose wheel during a pit stop sent him toward the back of the pack and caused him to curse at his crew. The issue caused him to restart in 31st place before he eventually finished 12th.

The 23XI Racing driver was eager to put the incident in the past Saturday. He said one of his passions was “making it feel like we’re one team and family.”

Wallace will be starting in the 25th position today as the Cup Series comes to Road America for the second straight Fourth of July weekend.

Wallace said his crew members understand the types of comments that can be made in the heat of competition.

He said he has a great relationship with crew chief Bootie Barker, who tried to calm him down in Nashville.

“The team still has a great relationship,” Wallace said. “Not everybody’s going to be happy in a sport like this and a business like this. Just got to work to do your best. I’ll do better and be better.”

Wallace had his second runnerup finish in the Daytona 500 this year but has only one other top-10 result and is 24th in the points standings. The Nashville situation wasn’t the first time this season he’s been hindered by a loose wheel.

Elliott on pole

Chase Elliott won the pole at Road America and will lead the field to green today as he attempts to defend his win on the Wisconsin road course. The Hendrick Motorsports driver edged Chase Briscoe by 0.038 seconds in qualifying.

Elsewhere

Ty Gibbs overtook NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime Saturday at Road America for his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the season. The race featured a major wreck that impacted about a third of the 38-car field. Larson, competing in an Xfinity Series event for the first time since 2018, was leading when Cole Custer’s brake failure resulted in a late caution f lag that produced overtime. The 19-year-old Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, chased Larson for much of the overtime session, passed him early in the final lap and remained in front the rest of the way for his third career road-course win. Gibbs’ winning margin was 0.858 seconds.

The Indycar championship race faces a major shakeup at Midohio Sports Car Course, where the top title contenders struggled and

Pato O’ward won the pole to match a series mark set in 1961. O’ward became the ninth different pole winner through nine races this season — the first time that’s happened in 61 years. The Arrow Mclaren SP driver now has a shot at the points lead.

Carlos Sainz was fastest in the rain to take his first career pole position in his 150th start ahead of today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England. Sainz set the fastest time of 1 minute 40.983 seconds late in the third qualifying session to edge past Max Verstappen by just .072 seconds. It’s the seventh pole in 10 races for Ferrari this season. All of the others were for Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc. He starts third in the race.