“It was disappointing,” NASCAR President opens up about Bubba Wallace intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson in Las VegasBubba Wallace
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NASCAR President opens up about Bubba Wallace intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson in Las Vegas
Bubba Wallace’s violent confrontation with Kyle Larson in Las Vegas was one of the disturbing events of the 2022 cup season. The 23X1 Racing driver shoved Kyle Larson multiple times after wrecking the HMS driver to the wall from the right rear. Wallace’s action was prompted by an aggressive overtake on him by the 2020 cup champion.
The then No:45 driver was suspended for one race by NASCAR sanctioning body. He missed the Miami playoff race, which Larson won dominantly. Most of the racing community wasn’t satisfied with sanctions as they labeled them unacceptable. Wallace’s former boss Kyle Petty even opinionated that he should be banned for the remainder of the season.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, NASCAR president Steve Phelps opened up about the incident. He was sitting with some NBA players when the incident occurred and was disappointed by Bubba expressing his emotion while driving at 165 per hour.
“I was in a suite with a couple of NBA players that were there at the race and were somewhat novices. So, I described what I thought happened, and they said, “That’s what I saw, too.” It was disappointing. You don’t want to see that. You want drivers to show their emotion, for sure, but on the racetrack going 165 miles per hour is not something that we want to see. Bubba knows that,” Steve Phelps said.
Also read: Richard Petty and Jimmie Johson sign Rajah Caruth to drive the No. 24 GMS truck in 2023
Steve Phelps had a conversation with both Bubba Wallace and kyle Busch after the incident
When Steve Phelps was asked about his conversation with the drivers after the sanction, he revealed that he did talk with Wallace as he cares about him like any other driver on the grid. He also had a called Kyle Larson as well.
“Typically, if there are incidents on the racetrack, I don’t have those conversations. That’s our competition group’s responsibility. I certainly had a follow-up with Bubba because I care about Bubba, I care about all our race car drivers, so I wanted to make sure he was OK. And I called Kyle Larson as well,” Steve Phelps said.
Steve Phelps refused to give details about the actual conversation with Kyle Larson. He pointed out that he talks with drivers a lot, and they are like family to him. She cares about both Wallace and Larson. The main motive of the conversation he had was to let the driver know that he cared about them.
“I would prefer not to get into my conversations with them. I talk to drivers a lot. We’re family, and sometimes we fight like family. But we’re family. I care about Kyle, I care about Bubba, and I want to make sure that they are in a good place, and I wanted them to understand that the sanctioning body and I personally care about them as individuals,” Steve Phelps added.
Also read: The data-driven style of 23X1 Racing is “the right approach,” for Tyler Reddick in 2023
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Justin P Joy
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