Bubba Wallace Referenced Michael Jordan’s Future Partner’s Example on the Idea of Apologizing to Fellow NASCAR Drivers in 2018

We usually consider wrecks and crashes to be part and parcel of elite racing sports like NASCAR. Drivers tend to not hold grudges against each other for wrecks. But there’s a differentiation – intentional wrecks and unintentional wrecks. Bubba Wallace once explained his views on them.

On the famous 12 Questions series of Jeff Gluck, Bubba Wallace answered the question, “If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?” Bubba replied, “Yeah, it does. For example, I reached out to (Denny) Hamlin to say, ‘We’re all good?’ He’s not good. But I did my part, so it’s like, OK, I’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Jeff then added, “It could have festered if you didn’t.” To which Bubba said, “I look at the (Matt) Kenseth and (Joey) Logano deal (from Martinsville). You really take notes from that. But you’re gonna be racing these guys every week, hopefully for the next 10, 15 years.”

For context, the two drivers were involved in a high-intensity race at Daytona. While Austin Dillon took home the big prize, the two drivers were involved in a battle for second place. Ultimately, Bubba (despite being a rookie back then) bested Hamlin.

That second-place finish for Bubba meant he was the highest-finishing rookie in the history of Daytona, and he also became the highest-finishing African American driver at the prestigious event.

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That 2018 Daytona 500 was probably one of the most heated races we’ve seen in recent times, and rightly so given the things that happened after the race.

Did Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin smoothen things?

Things were not okay between the two drivers for a while after that. Given the personal nature of the comments that Bubba made about Hamlin afterward, it was quite obvious that Hamlin was angry.

At the end of the race, Bubba said “I wanna see the replay before I say anything stupid, but he might need to take some Adderall for that one. But all and all, a great day for our Click n’ Close Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. … Hey, we edged him out, we beat him, so it’s all good.”

Hamlin did not take too kindly to those comments. However, Wallace and Denny reportedly texted each other later on to sort things out. 

Given that Bubba was the chosen one to join 23XI Racing in 2020 when Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin founded the team, it would be safe to assume that the two drivers buried the hatchet in due course of time.

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Hamlin and Bubba share a good relationship now. The two are now, both rivals and teammates on the track.