Bubba Wallace on 2nd-Place Daytona 500 Finish: I'll Be 'Pissed Off' for a While

Bubba Wallace just missed the first Daytona 500 victory of his career Sunday when Austin Cindric held off his late charge in the final seconds.

"I'mma be pissed off about this one for a while," Wallace said after the race. "I was happy on the first second place that we got a couple years ago. This one sucks when you're that close. But all in all happy for my team, happy for our partners and on to California."

Cindric won after a number of drivers were bunched together for the final restart in overtime.

Wallace made a move to go low, while Cindric went up to block Ryan Blaney. Still, that left a sprint to the finish between Cindric and Wallace.

It was Cindric's first NASCAR Cup Series win of his career.

Wallace is accustomed to finishing in second place at Daytona at this point. He was also the top runner-up in 2018 when Austin Dillon won, but that was earlier in his career and seemed to signal he would be a threat in this famous race for years to come.

His comments indicate his mood is much different this time around.

Cindric and Wallace made the charge at the end, but Martin Truex Jr. won the first two stages. The opening stage also featured a crash that sent Harrison Burton airborne and upside down for a moment. That crash eliminated three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, as well as Burton, William Byron and Ross Chastain.

There was also a red flag in the final 10 laps because of a crash involving Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick. Wallace avoided that one and remained in the race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with him on the restart.

Unfortunately for the second-place finisher, he was unable to track down Cindric at the end.