Bubba Wallace Wants the Phoenix Dogleg Gone: ‘It Ain’t Going to Be Cool When We’re 60’

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Bubba Wallace wants NASCAR to get rid of the Phoenix dogleg shortcut at Phoenix Raceway, saying the forces drivers take when they cut across it are “brutal” and could catch up with them later in life.

Wallace made the comments in an interview posted on X by reporter Peter Stratta when asked whether NASCAR should change the section, where drivers cut across the paved apron inside the frontstretch instead of following the full curve of the track.

http://x.com/peterstratta/status/2114044781538030003

Wallace: ‘It ain’t going to be cool when we’re 60’

“It’s brutal. It looks cool on TV, and it ain’t going to be cool when we’re 60, right?” Wallace said.

“From a physical standpoint, absolutely. We’re pulling, I don’t know what it is, 30-something Gs. I might be wrong on that number, but it’s high every time we cut the dogleg,” he said.

Wallace said he was not sure the exact figure was right. Asked about putting grass or turf through the area, he noted that “the original Phoenix had grass through there,” and suggested NASCAR could look at track-limit rules like those IndyCar uses.

“Whatever they build, we’ll race,” Wallace said. “So, I mean, I’m in favor of getting rid of it, for sure.”

How the dogleg came to be

Phoenix Raceway’s 2011 redevelopment reshaped the dogleg and paved the area inside it, creating the shortcut drivers use today. The track hosted the Cup Series championship race from 2020 through 2025 and held the seventh race of this year’s Chase last Sunday.

Wallace’s Phoenix race

Wallace led 52 laps at Phoenix last Sunday, his most in a race this season, but a pit-road speeding penalty with 27 laps left dropped him to 17th, RACER reported. His 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick won.

Wallace also said he likes NASCAR’s return to a 10-race Chase without eliminations, saying the format rewards consistency.

“To go through the first three races and still have a shot, that was nice to know,” he said.

Wallace starts 25th in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.