The second stage of the Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway was not kind to 23XI Racing. Sudden brake issues sent two of the team's cars into the wall and created cautions.
The first incident occurred on Lap 41. Riley Herbst's No. 35 Toyota Camry XSE blew a tire and suddenly slammed into the outside wall. The replay showed several pieces of brake rotor flying from underneath the car as Herbst headed toward the wall.
Thirteen laps later, Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE suddenly slammed into the outside wall. The replay showed pieces of rotor fly from underneath his car moments before the right-front tire burst.
Trouble for @BubbaWallace brings the yellow back out on Lap 54. pic.twitter.com/LwsafoGzMn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2025
Wallace and Herbst both made mandatory trips to the infield care center after their respective incidents. They underwent evaluation before being released.
"I was going to battle the 17 (Chris Buescher) and the 2 (Austin Cindric) and by the time I was ready to touch the pedal it just went to the floor and the brakes exploded," Wallace said. "I hate it, we've had two or three good races in-a-row and there goes the bad luck again. They told me there's no such thing as bad luck, we create our own luck.
"I hate it for my guys. I hate it for McDonald's. We knew it was going to be a grind and I was mentally prepared for that all day. As frustrating as it gets not being able to pass here in Pocono, we were going to just take our lumps and march our way through and set ourselves up for the end of the race, but the brakes just didn't want to hang on that long."
Said Herbst, "I've grown up watching these races at Pocono and seeing what happened to me happen to lot of other guys. It was a scary feeling for sure. I was just starting to get tight, just a bad adjustment on my part.
"Getting into (Turn) 1, the brakes just went to the floor. A brake rotor exploded and I was along for the ride with our Monster Energy Camry XSE."
With two 23XI Racing cars having rotor issues in the second stage, the attention immediately turned to the third driver, Tyler Reddick.
The cause of the blown rotors became a topic of discussion over the No. 45 team's radio, but they informed Reddick that his temperatures were much lower than his teammates.
They still adjusted the bias toward the rear of the car to potentially prevent another front rotor failure. The team also spent extra time on pit road working on cooling Reddick's brakes.
Reddick ultimately went to the garage during the race so that the team could make a change. He returned to the track and finished 32nd.
This incident will put a dent in Wallace's playoff cushion. He entered the weekend 13th in the Cup Series standings with a 57-point cushion to the cutline. The drivers immediately behind him were Chase Briscoe (+39), Alex Bowman (+22), and Chris Buescher (+19).
Herbst, for comparison, entered the weekend in a must-win situation. He was 35th in the Cup Series standings. His only path to the playoffs is a win.