Nowadays, all a driver does after winning a race is give a short interview on the frontstretch and call it a night. But back in the day, drivers would get to celebrate their win with their team and crew in the victory lane, something which is completely lost today. This was something that Freddie Kraft, the spotter of Bubba Wallace, recently talked about.
In the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft opened up on his own memories of the victory lane interviews, why they’re important, and his own experiences of the same with Bubba Wallace.
“When I was growing up, the interview was what the driver needed to do to thank everybody. But I always looked to see how excited he was to get with his crew guys and hi-fiving all the guys that got him there,” Kraft said. “And I feel like you lose a lot of that, and now obviously, you lose all of it if they don’t show it at all.”
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“But that’s something I looked forward to even the races that Bubba (Wallace) won. I wanted him to get out of the car and come give us a hi-five, a hug, or whatever. I liked the emotion of, the raw emotion of the interview right there.”
Bubba Wallace reacts to Denny Hamlin’s comments about 23XI Racing
Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of the 23XI Racing team, let out some of his growing impatience with his team in a press conference ahead of last week’s race at Martinsville.
The Richmond race winner spoke about the struggles at his team, calling their current state “unacceptable.”
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However, his driver, Bubba Wallace, believes while they need to get better and raise their level, the team is still very much “a growing program.”
“It’s just mistakes that happen that we got to clean up,” Wallace said. “Race teams have mistakes. We seem to have little bit more than others right now.”
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“But (it’s) still early in the season, we’ll be fine.”
Also Read: “Surprised I Got Teeth Left” – Bubba Wallace Opens Up on Opens Up on NASCAR Struggles in 2022