Bubba Wallace crashed hard in Turn 1 at Pocono Raceway near the end of Sunday’s race.
After losing the brakes on his No. 43 Chevrolet, Wallace skidded through into the grass and veered left while approaching the SAFER barrier, slamming it with his car’s passenger side.
“The pedal went to the floor, so I went to the bottom,” the Richard Petty Motorsports driver told NBCSN. “Your natural instinct is try to use all the track when that happens. So, went to the floor, pump it up, get through the tunnel and three here. Down into 1, I start pumping at the start-finish line, and it blew.
“I should have hooked a right into the fence up there to slow me down, but I’m used to turning left there. … So I turned left, and there she went through the grass.”
Wallace’s girlfriend, Amanda Carter, was one of many in the NASCAR industry who reacted to his crash on Twitter.
A relieved Wallace tweeted his thanks for all of the support while sitting on the plane waiting to return to Charlotte.
Just sat down on the bird, I'm okay. Appreciate all the love n support!
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) July 29, 2018
Scariest and hardest hit I've had. The reality of being helpless in that situation freaked me out. Didnt know what the outcome was gonna be. Glad it's just a bitten cheek and banged up foot.
Love yall!🤘🏽
Long weekend for us. Will just have to keep working. Boy am I happy Bubba is okay. Saw a replay after the red flag and that was scary. Called him right after. He’s tough.
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) July 29, 2018