Bubba Wallace Insider Blasts Off Tyler Reddick for ‘Berating’ Michael Jordan’s NASCAR Employee

Just like our preview and prediction, the Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway was an all-out war between the consistent Toyotas and the blistering pace of the Fords. Despite the Joe Gibbs Racing cars under the tutelage of veteran Martin Truex Jr. acing the first two stages of the race, Chris Buescher’s late rally sealed the deal for RFK Racing as the #17 Ford once again prevailed, giving the all-American manufacturer one more win at Michigan. While JGR cars showed true grit, fellow Toyota camp Michael Jordan co-owned 23XI Racing also had a brief reign at the top, with Tyler Reddick giving them a fighting chance until the scene became dark for Michael Jordan’s team.

From giving the #17 car tough competition, Tyler Reddick’s #45 literally went for a slide due to a lousy pit stop that made the calm and cool driver lose his temper, giving his pit crew an earful. Surprisingly, his teammate, Bubba Wallace, and Michael Jordan’s team member did not agree with Reddick’s outburst. Instead, he chimed in with his hones take, shooting a valid question as he broke down the narrative.

Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team member turn his back on the driver

Tyler Reddick who shifted base from Chevy to Toyota looked like he was in for a major rejig after a successful campaign at Circuit of The Americas. The 27-year-old road racing phenom proved why is lauded as one of the best road racers as the #45 Toyota laid siege to the track, racking up his first win.

While it looked like things were comfortably sailing for the driver, recent ventures showed 23XI Racing’s true weakness- their inefficient pit crew. However, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft doesn’t agree with this notion as he strongly disagreed with Reddick blasting his crew over Monday’s late-race incident.

Speaking on the DBC, podcast, Kraft spoke his mind, disagreeing with Reddick’s notion of his pit crew ruining his day. “The thing that gets me about this is they were having a wait on the fuel a little bit so you’re not you know, you’re not in as big a rush if you know got an extra second or 2 that you’re going to have to wait on fuel but just aside from that should we talk about last couple of weeks?“

Shooting an apt question, indirectly pointing out the driver’s pit penalty last week, he then added, “Changer made a mistake, nobody feels worse about it better than he does and then Tyler gets on there let’s them have it but we’re only 1 week you know, we’re only 1 week removed from him being in contention at Richmond and he drives over the box and nobody got on the radio and cussed him out you know.” 

READ MORE: “Big Names Would Tarnish Their Legacy”- Denny Hamlin Discloses Why NASCAR Wouldn’t Support More Transparency

Freddie Kraft then went on to iterate what the drivers should aspire to be rather than taking it out on poor pit crew members. He said, “I rather see these guys being more of a leader than just berate the guy but you know it is what it is and Tyler, I’m sure probably doesn’t love the fact that happened.“

Kraft then lets the cat out of the bag, mentioning Wallace’s precarious position

With Reddick ending his day miserably despite leading 7 laps until disaster struck the #45 car with 43 laps to go, his teammate, Bubba Wallace, on the other hand, got a respectable finish compared to Reddick, finishing 18th. While the veteran spotter is certain that the #45 driver’s outburst was not typical of him, he said, “I know and this is outside of Tyler’s personality like this is not something that you see out of Tyler but like, you know you got to be, we talked about the situational awareness you know, its a mistake and it is what it is.” 

Reddick, who already has a win under his name, is set for the playoffs ranked 13th, whereas Wallace, on the other hand, isn’t that fortunate. Though he acknowledges the team’s potential, Kraft also mentioned how the #23 team needs more work, something team co-owner Denny Hamlin has voiced publicly, even condemning the #45 team’s wrongdoings.

He said, “I’m sure probably doesn’t love the fact that happened, and listen as far as our pit crews and ourselves we have tons of speed, both cars, both cars are very fast, and execution has been lacking and there’s no secret about that, we got to do a better job especially if we can get both these cars, Tyler’s already in the playoffs, we’ve(#23 team) to earn our way into, the coming weeks.” 

WATCH THIS STORY: Bubba Wallace exposes boss Denny Hamlin’s black lie in Pocono feud