NASCAR Left Us “Dumbfounded”: Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Freddie Kraft Agrees With Denny Hamlin

During last weekend’s Cup race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, there was a massive mix-up. Apparently, there was a lot of confusion when the rain fell just as the stage ended. Denny Hamlin was particularly annoyed because the broadcast from Fox Sports did not help much either. Now, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft has also backed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

The whole saga began in stage 2 when the red flag waved due to rain. Fox Sports tried to make sense of what was happening, but Hamlin confirmed that it only confused people more. Kraft insisted that NASCAR did not give any clarification on the running order either. He observed that when the stage ended the pit road opened up. Several cars dived in, except for Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, and Ross Chastain.

All three had to make a mandatory pit stop, and Briscoe was leading at the time. The rules insisted that drivers had to pit during one of the breaks. Meanwhile, many other cars stopped in the pits, and then the rain delay happened. This meant that they gave up track position.

What did he say about the Denny Hamlin accusation?

Kraft said, “There was maybe 12-15 guys who stayed out. So then it rains, so we’re going into a rain delay. I was like, ‘its a good call’. We went from 18th, 19th, 20th to finish 9th if it rains out. All of a sudden you’re like, what if the #14 guys are complaining, like they were leading. I was like, there’s no way they were leading, they still have a mandatory pit stop, they have to come down pit road. All of a sudden you think they could go back a lap, because the last lap is frozen. They got caught in a situation that they never expected. I don’t know, there’s so much going on here. When I heard the final announcement that if it does rain right now, Chase Briscoe is the winner. I was dumbfounded.”

In the end, Briscoe did not win the race. Instead, Kyle Busch managed to steal the win from under his and Tyler Reddick’s noses. Reddick had been leading for a while, and on the last lap, Briscoe lunged down the inside. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in spinning himself and Reddick out. Suffice to say, third-placed Busch was not about to decline an open invitation.

READ MORE: Denny Hamlin Is All NASCAR Fans After FOX’s Broadcasting Disaster at Bristol