It’s safe to say that Bubba Wallace has a polarizing effect on NASCAR fans. It seems that one can either hate or love the 23XI driver— nothing in between. However, what happened this weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway pitched almost all NASCAR fans against Wallace.
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During the first 29 laps of the race, Bubba Wallace was leading the pack. However, soon, Kyle Larson decided to go for a three-wide pass. With Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, and Bubba Wallace driving side by side, Harvick slowed down and dropped out of the group.
However, Wallace did not give any room to Larson and the Hendrick Motorsports driver shoved Wallace’s car into the wall. But instead of dealing with the situation reasonably, Wallace’s frustration forced him to retaliate and send Kyle Larson’s car spinning out on the field.
Unfortunately, Christopher Bell was collected in Larson’s crash and this incident ended the race for all three drivers. But Wallace’s vexation still had the best of him and the 23XI driver walked up the live track to confront Larson. As soon as the #5 driver came out of his wrecked vehicle, Wallace began shouting and shoved him multiple times.
Larson refused to indulge in the fight and constantly used his hands to block Wallace’s shots at him. A NASCAR safety worker finally intervened to separate the two. But the 23XI driver did not seem to be in the right space of mind and refused to cooperate with the infield care staff.
And a recent video of the incident captured by a fan at the speedway highlighted Wallace’s inconsideration for Larson’s safety. The clip shared on Twitter shows that Wallace’s initial shove resulted in Larson hitting his spine onto the wrecked exposed parts. Seeing this as a thoughtless and dangerous act on part of Wallace, the fans slammed the driver and demanded NASCAR punished him.
Slowed this down. Look close at all the exposed parts from the wreck and the hard hit from BW Larson took onto the exposed parts into his spine (after a pretty bad hit to wall obviously). Larson defended himself w/out any aggression & BW didn’t stop. Broke many rules.Unacceptable pic.twitter.com/xgMYkv4dt6
— Robyn 🇺🇸🏁 (@robynsracing) October 16, 2022
This fan view of the initial push shows how hard of a hit that was onto wrecked exposed parts to Larsons spine! https://t.co/LPIuJdl35s
— Robyn 🇺🇸🏁 (@robynsracing) October 16, 2022
i just hope Larson is ok after getting pushed like that! He got shoved pretty hard! What Bubba did was totally uncalled for & i love how Larson took care of the situation & how he handled the interview unlike how Bubba handled both situations… terrible on Bubbas part
— tayyy 💕😋 (@tay4801) October 17, 2022
The car side even buckles when Kyle gets slammed against it. I agree totally unacceptable.
— JESSICA DUSABLON (@JADDLD) October 16, 2022
Unprofessional behavior by BW. Larson tried to distance himself, showed class.
— William Flood (@William19520178) October 17, 2022
I’m so glad the world slowly gets to see how awful of a human this guy is… no class, lying , evil guy…
— whitney kay scott (@whitneykay_) October 16, 2022
NASCAR this was wreckless and unhinged behavior from Bubba. You better hand out penalties. It's not unreasonable to suspend Bubba for the remainder of the season and threaten his career pending investigation and apology to Kyle and Bubba should be required to take anger managemen
— Paul Stephenson (@AUTiger97) October 16, 2022
So NASCAR what are you going to do about your golden boy?? His actions could have cost someone their life.
— Debby (@Debby11152) October 16, 2022
Total lack of control and discipline, with the amount of concussions and injurys this year, to intentionally use a car as a weapon at 180mph. @BubbaWallace should never get another sponsor and anyone who does give him $ should be boycotted ! @dennyhamlin @DaleJr @nascar
— Frank White (@Pitkrudesigns) October 16, 2022
Yeah,,, what a childish response to a racing incident…. Lost a little respect for @BubbaWallace today…. I didn’t appreciate his arrogance toward the interviewer at the infield care center…. I understand his frustration but he could stand to learn a little humility….
— Scott Snow (@SnowinTexas) October 16, 2022
What did Bubba Wallace say about the incident?
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In a post-race interview, Bubba Wallace claimed that he did not wreck Larson deliberately. In fact, he blamed Kyle Larson for shoving him into the wall during the race. He explained that the new cars break easily and when Larson shoved him into the fence, his steering wheel stopped working.
Moreover, the 23XI Racing driver accused Larson of making a ‘three-wide divebomb.’ He further said; “I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even at a spot to lift and he never lifted, either, and now we’re junk. Just [very bad] move of his execution.”
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WATCH THIS STORY: “F**king Bullsh*t” – Bubba Wallace’s “Joke” NASCAR Pit Crew Costs Him Dearly in Kansas Amidst Teammate Kurt Busch’s Win
Furthermore, the interviewers confronted Wallace about what message he was trying to pass when he pushed Larson after getting out of the car. To this, he simply replied; “He knows what he did was wrong. He wanted to question what I was doing, and he never cleared me”
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