Sunday’s playoff opener at Darlington has opened up many possibilities. Kyle Larson dominated the proceedings to secure his first-ever win at one of the crown jewels of NASCAR, concluding a day of high-octane racing action. Amidst the conundrum of ever-changing leads and toe-to-toe action, some incidents sent flares of temper flying on the radio from the drivers. One of them involved the driver making his playoff debut, Bubba Wallace.

Defending Cup champion Joey Logano was the driver who suffered at the hands of Wallace in Stage 1. The Team Penske driver was seen to be livid about Bubba’s intervention in his plans and blurted out some words of spite on the team radio as well.

Bubba Wallace was called out by Logano after his grave error

Bubba Wallace made the best of his chances and finished in a position of advantage at the end of the day. P7 is a good outcome for someone who debuted at the season’s most intense stage. However, his decision-making on the track can be questioned, as he was involved in multiple incidents that did not go down well with some of his fellow drivers on the grid.

As the first stage was about to end, Bubba tried to sneak into the top 10 and gather bonus points that would be beneficial to him. Instead, he somehow bumped the rear of Logano in the #22 Ford Mustang. As a result of this, Logano spun out and took some damage from the wreck. Voicing his annoyance on the radio, Logano exclaimed,

“Oh, what an idiot! That one might have knocked the toe out in the back. I don’t know.”

The issues that arose from the wreck continued to trouble the #22 team for the rest of the race. Despite that, the reigning champion managed to bounce back from the developments of the race and secure a P12 finish, which is not bad considering the possibility of it ending much worse.

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Another driver who tussled with Bubba Wallace on Sunday was road course specialist AJ Allmendinger. It looks like Bubba was indeed feeling the nerves on the occasion of his debut playoff appearance.

The No. 23 takes responsibility for his actions

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After the race, Bubba Wallace took his time to think things out in a calm and composed mental state. Incidents like these could prove detrimental for him, especially since it will be tougher for him to find a place in the final 12. After deep introspection, Bubba Wallace pleaded guilty to his actions. Speaking to renowned journalist Bob Pockrass, he said, “Let the team down,”

“I just made silly mistakes, dumb mistakes to the 22 and 16 and they made it hell, rightfully so. Apologies to them. Just did not execute as a driver today and felt really good going into the race. But got some regrouping to do and some things to figure out. Going to Kansas gotta regroup and move forward.”

Darlington has proved to be a great venue for Bubba, who bagged his second top-10 finish of the season at the track. Having to qualify after a long struggle in the playoff bubble, Bubba understands the essence of the opportunity.

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“Yeah no doubt, I think you gotta stick with it,” continued the 23XI Racing driver. “These races are long. I thought about what happened with the 19 [Martin Truex Jr.] in the spring [race], right? Him and Ross [Chastain] got together, he spun, and then before his crash into Turn 1, he was back up front. So it’s like, we don’t have any damage we’re good, just put some new tires on it and we’ll come back up through the field and we did that. So, it was good.”

Well, it is great to see Bubba Wallace regaining his confidence after living out his days in the bubble with a continuous feeling of uncertainty.