“They Are Hydroplaning in the Esses” – Bubba Wallace’s Spotter & Brett Griffin Slam NASCAR’s Decision to Go Racing While It Was Still Raining

Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft and Brett Griffin, slam NASCAR for sending out the drivers when half of the track was due to heavy rain at Watkins Glen International last week.

During the podcast, Brett Griffin stated, “I’m seeing the standing water in the bus stop. I’m hearing drivers, based on spotter feedback back around me talking about they are hydroplaning in the esses, it’s not even green yet.”

“Like I don’t understand why we loaded the drivers and attempted to go. I’m all for racing and in light rain.”

He adds, “I’m all for racing when the track is wet and not for attempting to go green in that scenario just to appease TV. That’s probably what NASCAR had to bow down to, those TV’s probably standing out the door knocking on, ‘we gotta go man. we gotta go, we’ve already missed our window.”

“We are an hour late, Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go. They load ’em up and we do the show and we go ahh never mind.”

Read More: Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Freddie Kraft Names 3 Road Course Experts in NASCAR – Leaves Out Hendrick Motorsports Stars

Soon, Freddie Kraft added to Griffin’s point by elaborating on the drawbacks of racing in such rain. He said, “I’m all for putting up a show for racing in the rain. But you cannot race in a steady to heavy rain because the second we have a caution flag, that same scenario and it’s sunny out and it starts to rain you know we’re gonna be fine for a while.”

Adding, “But as soon as we have stage break or caution the standing water is gonna build-up, and yesterday we’re like okay we are just trying to move some of this standing water. Wonder if you realize but there’s gallons of it falling from the sky while you are trying to move it so it’s not gonna go anywhere right now”

NASCAR races for the first time with grooved tires with the next-gen cars

The race at Watkins Glen began with a two-hour-long delay. However, there was still heavy rain which made driving extremely difficult. Drivers soon began complaining about aquaplaning and loss of visibility, which in turn led to the race being red-flagged.

Drying machines were out on track trying to remove the standing water. However, due to the continuous rain, they were not so efficient.

After a while, the cars came back out again, and it was the first time the latest generation of cars were driving on grooved tires instead of slicks. As the race went on and the track started to dry up, Chase Briscoe was the first to pit for fresh slick tires. His strategy seemed to have worked out for him as he went on to win stage one of the race.

WATCH THIS STORY: From Kyle Larson to Denny Hamlin Chase Elliott’s Most Heated Moments

The race in itself saw a few drivers’ session ends early. Finally, during the delayed final restart, the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott managed to tangle with each other, which lead to Elliott going off the track and losing places while his teammate went ahead to grasp the race win.

NASCAR heads to Daytona International Speedway next week, which will be the last time drivers will get a chance to get into the playoffs.