That win is still out there, hiding just behind a wall of bad luck and tiny mistakes. As Motorsport.com reports, Phoenix was merely the latest heartbreak for Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 team, who have not visited Victory Lane since the summer of 2025 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He has two runner-up finishes this year and has paced the field for over 300 laps, making him the driver with the most laps led in 2026 without securing a victory.
Everything looked right on schedule at Phoenix until the final caution waved. Wallace held the lead and paced the pack down pit road, but dropped all the way to ninth as three cars stayed on track and others took right-side tires only, while his No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota outfit opted for four fresh Goodyears. Tragically, he never discovered what those new tires could do. A pit lane speeding penalty sent him straight to the rear of the field. After leading 52 laps, he could only salvage a 17th-place finish.
the most exciting thing is we get to go home tonight, and my family is excited to see me, so that's what he reminded me of.
The aftermath was brutal. Wallace sat quietly after climbing out of the machine, head in hands, watching teammate Tyler Reddick celebrate the race win. It is a painful script he has lived through repeatedly this season, where errors or misfortune snatch away a victory that felt guaranteed. Crew chief Charles Denike offered immediate support to his driver after the race concluded.
Wallace broke down the mechanics of the penalty with brutal honesty. "Our team is so good at finding all the gray areas to operate in and find our limits (on pit road), and I think I exposed it a little bit too much around the corner," Wallace said. "Corner pitting is really, really tough. The lack of visibility that you have, you're trying to, one, not try to run through too many boxes, but also not give up too much time because you can. You do speed up through those sections. And so you've got to remember when you speed up, you can't cut too much distance (between the timing lines). And so when you cut too much distance and speed up, it adds to a speeding penalty, and I hate it for our team."
Despite the gut punch, the driver tried to focus on the broader success of the organization. 23XI Racing has collected eight victories this year, split between six for Reddick and two from part-time driver Corey Heim, while Toyota officially claimed the manufacturer's championship with three races remaining in the season. "So it's frustrating," Wallace added. "It's super hard to be happy right now, but happy for the team, (the) 45 [Reddick] getting another win. Happy for Toyota, locked up the manufacturer's championship. So it's been really fun driving Toyotas this year, but I just can't seem to close the deal out. So yeah, three more to go."
To close out the afternoon, Crew Chief Denike brought some perspective to the disappointment. Wallace noted that his boss reminded him that "the most exciting thing is we get to go home tonight, and my family is excited to see me, so that's what he reminded me of."
