Bubba Wallace crashes in Cup practice, Austin Dillon loses engine

Motorsport photo

Both Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon will start Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race from the rear of the field after some practice drama.

In Group A, Dillon only ran three laps before taking his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet back to the garage. He reported that the engine started making a strange noise, and he had no pace. His fastest lap was a 29.988s, a full 1.4s off the fastest time and seven tenths slower to the next car on the speed charts.

RCR confirmed that they will change the engine, and Dillon will not take part in qualifying. He is a former Cup winner at Texas, leading an RCR 1-2 finish there during the 2020 season.

Later in the same session, Wallace had completed 21 laps when the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota snapped around on him in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. He backed the car into the outside wall, damaging the rear and left-front. Wallace was fifth in the speed charts for his group.

What sent Wallace spinning?

"This is Texas, it's treacherous," said Wallace after being released from the infield care center. "I was wondering if I got too high, but it looked like I had a decent arc. Felt a little loose, but then it just came around so fast."

Wallace then met with up with several reporters inside the media center, including Motorsport.com, where he expanded on what he felt behind the wheel.

"It just came around out of nowhere," commented Wallace. "Surprised me. I knew I was loose in the moment, went to correct it, and it was too late. I hate it. I thought we had some decent speed..."

Wallace earned pole for the Texas Cup race in 2023, but he will join Dillon on the back row of the grid for Sunday's race. It's likely 23XI will have to go to a backup car, but there has been no official confirmation of that at this time.