Bubba Wallace Flips off “Dumba**” Denny Hamlin After Costly Kansas Clash

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace called his boss and Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin out for the Kansas drama.

Bubba Wallace Flips off “Dumba**” Denny Hamlin After Costly Kansas Clash

Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO and @Noah_Lewis1/X)

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23XI Racing Bubba Wallace was half a lap away from securing his second win of 2025, when Denny Hamlin bumped him from behind and send him to the wall. This drop the No:23 Toyota to P5, while Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott sneak into P1, breaking the heart of four Toyota drivers who were racing upfront.  

After the finish, Bubba Wallace didn’t hesitate to slam his boss, Denny Hamlin. He was spotted with his hands outside the door, after the finish, seeming to give the bird to his boss, showing his frustration. The only thing that is keeping Wallace from exploding with hanger is the fact that they didn’t have the best start to the race and wasn’t the fastest car of the day.

To even have a shot at the win with the way we started… We were not good. I really appreciate the team.

Bubba Wallace said via NBC Sports.

The racer then went onto address the Hamlin situation and admitted that he would have made some poor as well as dumb comments about his boss if he wasn’t as mature as he is right now. He then admitted that Hamlin made a dump move and it cost Toyota the opportunity to win the race, gifting it to Chevy.

Two years ago, I would say something dumb, [Hamlin] is a (expletive) for that move, for sure. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we were going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there. Toyotas were super fast and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn’t.

Bubba Wallace added.

Bubba Wallace reveals the frustrating part about the result and how the clash changes dynamic

In a different conversation on the same, Bubba Wallace admitted that he is really disappointed with the fact that the exciting prospect of racing his boss for the win turned out to be big mess like this. The most frustrating fact about it is that Toyota didn’t win a race, and he failed to take advantage of 23XI playing all their cards right.

Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)

You guys seen it. It’s unfortunate. You know, I was excited to race Denny for the win, and hell, we ended up 5th and gave the 9 a win. That’s what’s frustrating the most—that we couldn’t get Toyota to victory lane. We’ve been working really hard to get our program back here in Kansas. We still got a lot of work to do, played all of our cards right, and yeah, it just wasn’t meant to be.

Bubba Wallace said.

In the same interview, Wallace was asked if he would talk to Hamlin about the incident, he asserted that he wouldn’t. He was then asked about how the dynamic between the two would change for upcoming races. Wallace pointed out that he will race his boss just like how he raced him and also highlighted how the TRD drivers has the freedom to race each other hard.

Can’t talk to him… I mean, I’ve always been big on—you race me how you race me. No matter who you are, what it is, we race hard. We race hard every week. Toyota drivers race really hard every week.

Bubba Wallace added.

The comments from the 2025 Brickyard 400 winner shows he is clearly frustrated with his boss’ actions that cost him an important win. They need to have a conversation between them to settle any potential beef, as an internal fight isn’t something 23XI Racing needs at the moment, with them going to Roval next week in a must win situation as well as the noise around charter lawsuit.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Admits He ‘Regrets Dumping Ty Gibbs’ After JGR team meeting