Denny Hamlin breaks silence on Bubba Wallace dangerously door slamming Alex Bowman at Chicago

Denny Hamlin asserted the Bubba Wallace-Carson Hocevar incidents are not the same.

Denny Hamlin breaks silence on Bubba Wallace dangerously door slamming Alex Bowman at Chicago

Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin (In Circle) and Alex Bowman (Via IMAGO)

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicago Street circuit last Sunday saw Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman ending his winless streak that lasted over 80 races and secure his place in the playoffs. The victory wasn’t a smooth one for the Ally Sponsored driver and he was involved in a dramatic moment earlier in the race that ruined a couple of racers day.

Alex Bowman made contact with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace earlier in the race that ruined the day for the No:23 Toyota team. A furious Wallace took his revenge by door slamming the No:48 team during the cool-down lap. Many fans have been calling for a penalty for the Toyota driver.  Now23XI Racing boss Denny Hamlin has responded to these demands.

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The JGR veteran was quick to shut down claims that the incident was similar to Carson Hocevar wrecking Harrison Burton under caution and doesn’t deserve the same level of penalty. He also highlighted how Bowman downplayed the incident and asserted that this was not a drivers safety issue.

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I don’t know how NASCAR is gonna view it. So how this is different than Carson Hocevar is that one is under yellow. ..There’s not a drivers safety issue. So, I don’t know how they’ll view it and the other also is that Carson spun someone under yellow and it cost them positions and damage to their car…This was the race is over, he took a swipe at Bowman, and I think Bowman underplayed it a little bit in the media.
Denny Hamlin said via Action Detrimental.

Denny Hamlin speaks on extremely different views on Bubba Wallace incident

The No:23 Toyota driver is the most divisive driver when it comes to fan reaction in the NASCAR for many reasons. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see a divide in social media blaming and justifying Wallace. While ranking about it, Hamlin asserted that the actual gravity of the situation lies somewhere middle of the two.

Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace
Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace (Via IMAGO)
Think people that don’t like Bubba will try to draw conclusions into it one way and people that support Bubba will see it in an entirely different way. I think the answer is somewhere in the middle, but certainly, I think they are different simply because of the safety aspect of being under caution versus being at the end of the race.
Denny Hamlin said.

NASCAR is yet to announce the final verdict on the incident as it is still under review by the sanctioning body.  It would be interesting to see what decision would be made and how fans would react to it.

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