Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently talked about the late-race incident between Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin at Kansas Speedway, saying Wallace had every right to be mad after losing the win.
On the final restart, Hamlin hit Wallace while racing for the lead, which ended Wallace’s chance at the win and left him outside the top 4 at the end.
This is not a very common situation, though. Denny Hamlin is racing for himself and his #11 team as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver. But he’s also the co-owner of Bubba Wallace’s 23XI Racing. As both drivers are still in playoff contention, racing each other could be tough, and in this case, borderline aggressive.
Speaking on Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt said how much work Wallace had put in to get himself in position:
“I just hate it because Bubba was in a good spot, you know. And Bubba did everything all day long to sort of put himself in a great spot and his own team owner.”
“I think if you’re Bubba, it’s hard to go, ‘man, I don’t feel good about this and I don’t want to.’ … I think Bubba was very professional, did a great, great job in his interview, but he had every opportunity and every right to be frustrated about that.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on Hamlin-Wallace conflict
Earnhardt’s comments come as Wallace tries to hold on in the playoffs. His last — and only — win this year was at the Brickyard 400 in July. That win snapped a long drought and is the highlight of the season for 23XI Racing.
After Kansas Wallace is in 10th, 26 points below the cut line, while his 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick is even further back in 11th, 29 points below.
Earnhardt also talked about Wallace’s performance this year and compared it to Reddick’s:
“Bubba’s really kind of turned it up another notch this year. Seems like, since Indy, he’s sort of switched into another gear that I’ve never seen him really have before. Deserves to be up there. Can do it. Should be able to do it.”
“Reddick worries me a little bit. I don’t see the speed that I think that they’re capable of.”
One more race in the Round of 12 (Charlotte ROVAL) for Wallace to get out of a hole. Elliott is in the Round of 8, as are Ryan Blaney and drivers with points leads like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.
