Denny Hamlin Blames Bubba Wallace for the Big One at Daytona

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on the big one caused by Bubba Wallace at Daytona.

Denny Hamlin Blames Bubba Wallace for the Big One at Daytona

Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)

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The NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was a wild one, with Ryan Blaney pulling of a clutch last lap run to secure a win and deny bubble drivers a playoff shot. His best friend Bubba Wallace also played the role of heart breaker, but in the wrong way, earlier in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

The 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace got tangled with Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, following a slight nudge from Kyle Larson from behind. The No:23 Toyota spun out, collected multiple cars, ruining the playoff chances of many. Alex Bowman, who wrecked out in the incident, had to sit under massive pressure watching the race till the end of the race.

Since the wreck, the racing community has been looking into who should be blamed for the incident, with some pointing finger at Larson and some at Wallace. Now the latter’s boss Denny Hamlin on his podcast has explained that it was his driver’s fault, potentially due poor call from the spotter. He admitted that the TRD driver squeezed the field in that moment.  

It looked like to me that Bubba just squeezed those two guys below him down. You could just see that they’re there, two cars on the inside. I don’t know what Freddie [Kraft, Wallace’s spotter] was calling.

Denny Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental.

He pointed out that there was no room for Wallace to make that move at the moment, which ended up destroying multiple racers chances. Hamlin defended Kyle Larson, highlighting how the No:5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was already on the bumper of the No:23 Toyota and it was a not-clear moment where Wallace shouldn’t have made the move.

Maybe he was saying three wide top or not — I’m not sure, but he [Wallace] just squeezed on down there, and there was no room. So, he ended up wrecking himself, and obviously a few others. I’m looking at it, and I don’t think so. The five [Larson] was already on him close, but no. That’s just the 23 [Wallace] not clear. It’s just one of those not-clear moments.

Denny Hamlin added.

Bubba Wallace also pointed figure at himself over the wreck

On his post-interview, Bubba Wallace did take reasonability for the incident, though he later took some sarcastic shot at his haters. He pointed out that he hated what happened for nit just his team, but rest of the grid, while later asserting such huge meses are bound to happen at Daytona.

Bubba Wallace
Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)

I hate that. I’ll take the blame for it, unfortunately. Just a crap deal. Everything was going too good, too early to be all true. So, something was bound to happen.

Bubba Wallace said.

Further talking about the point, Bubba Wallace admitted that with both him and Tyler Reddick in the playoffs, the focus has now moved to the next weekend. The incident and DNF of Alex Bowman helped the No:45 Toyota to secure playoff spot earlier in the race.

I hate that we were involved in it, but hopefully, we can get the 45 in still. So, all in all, we’re locked in. Let’s get focused for Darlington, and I’m okay.

Bubba Wallace added.

All three 23XI Racing driver had a day to forget at Daytona and would be looking for redemption in the first round of playoffs at Darlington. Both Wallace and Reddick have no bonus points advantage in post-season, hence should be on their A-game for every week from now to make a deep run in the chase.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Analyzes Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman’s Playoff Entry Surviving ‘Unimaginable Stress’