A nudge to push the race leader to the walls. It ignited an angry retaliation and an attempt to wreck. A third car also got caught up in the crossfire for no fault of its own with a fistfight to conclude the matter. The Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson saga has attracted a lot of attention and divided fans and commentators.
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At the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bubba had the superior machine in his hands as he led for 29 laps (prior to the incident). Things went haywire in a matter of minutes as Larson attempted a wide pass on Bubba, with the latter not lifting. From there on, it was just ugly scenes for Wallace, Larson, and Christopher Bell.
Media and fans have largely been divided on Larson’s move, but there is strong opposition to what Bubba did with his car, and without it (referring to the way he shoved and landed blows on Larson). Speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brett Griffin made his views clear on the incident.
“When I look at this thing I see a guy who lost his temper, he didn’t have the mental fortitude to manage the situation properly. Not only did his first mistake happen, he made several other mistakes. The timing couldn’t be worse. The group chat that the drivers are all in, It’s constantly about safety,” said Griffin.
“I think Christopher Bell got scr*wed. He was an innocent victim in this whole thing. There’s no way Toyota’s happy about how that went down. Had Christopher Bell not been there, Kyle Larson is going to back his car into the wall. And that’s the worst angle it appears based on what we have been told you can hit with this particular car.”
NASCAR has seen its share of fatalities. Crashes and wrecks like these are not what they are aiming for, and not a sight to behold.
Should Bubba Wallace face consequences for his move?
The way Bubba reacted was overly aggressive as per most pundits’ evaluations. Griffin equated his actions to football, and also found similarities to an earlier incident.
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“I look at this as if this were football I think it would be ruled a “targeting penalty”. And targeting has consequences. What are those consequences I don’t know in our world because its so different. Jeff Gordon wrecked Clint Bowyer on purpose at Phoenix and that was for a Championship year and NASCAR didn’t do a damn thing.”
“This is no different. Unfortunately the race track is faster, unfortunately the car doesn’t appear to be as safe. I don’t know NASCAR should react here, but its like if they don’t react in some way or form, its like open hunting season on each other and I don’t wanna see that,” he said.
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Watch This Story: Innocent Victim Christopher Bell Demands Justice & Requests “Protocol” Against Bubba Wallace
A fast race with battling cars is amazing for fans, but an unsafe race is not. There are lives and families at stake. Surely NASCAR does not want to appear careless, and should take some proactive actions.