Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft claims ringers’ poor result at Indy was ‘a testament’ to regular cup drivers’ prowess

Veteran spotter Freddie Kraft claims the full-time NASCAR Cup drivers are better than the ringers.

Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft claims ringers’ poor result at Indy was ‘a testament’ to regular cup drivers’ prowess

Bubba Wallace, Freddie Kraft, and Kamui Kobayashi (Credits: Los Angeles Times, Door Bumper Clear, PlanetF1)

The NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a much-anticipated event. One of the main reasons was the star-studded driver line-ups consisting of international icons. Motorsports enthusiasts looked forward to seeing the Supercars champion and Chicago Cup winner Shane van Gisbergen, his fellow Supercars driver Brodie Kostecki, Former Formula 1 champion Jenson Button, Le Mans winners Mike Rockenfeller and Kamui Kobayashi. They were excited to see how these international racers would fare amidst the Cup drivers. 

However, to their disappointment, the international drivers did not win at Indy, and the excitement was short-lived. Front Row Motorsports driver, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell won the Brickyard 200 and secured a playoff spot. Bubba Wallace’s friend and spotter Freddie Kraft opened up on this subject on his latest Door Bumper Clear podcast. He spoke about how the Indy results were a testament to the full-time NASCAR Cup drivers’ prowess in the field.  

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Freddie Kraft explained in an episode of Door Bumper Clear that the NASCAR regular drivers are best at what they do. He applauded them for doing a brilliant job at Indy amid international drivers. Kraft stated, “Thus just is a testament to our full-time drivers that, you know, these guys are the best at what they do. You know SVG and Kostecki win all the Supercar races. Kobayashi dominates the the damn sports car world, Rockefeller’s a multi-time Le Mans winner.” 

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Related: Kyle Busch promises to turn things around after an un-deserving finish at Indy

Freddie Kraft explains why Shane van Gisbergen won the Chicago Cup race

Shane van Gisbergen (Credits: Chris Graythen, Getty Images)
Shane van Gisbergen (Credits: Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft also gave an interesting explanation as to why Shane van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago Cup race. He claimed it was because the full-time Cup drivers had not raced there previously. Kraft stated, “Like that’s what I talked last week about, you know, that perfect storm of Chicago was a place that our guys haven’t been before.” 

Freddie Kraft added, “And it’s something that SVG was used to. Here’s a place where you know, we’ve only got the rain street course, we’ve only even got two or three races here. And our guys are still that much better just because they’ve been there before.” It is safe to say Kraft feels that the regular Cup drivers are better than the ringers. 

The Chicago race winner and three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen finished 10th, Kostecki finished 22nd, and Rockenfeller finished 24th. Jenson Button and Kamui Kobayashi finished 28th and 33rd, respectively. It was not a race to remember, especially for Kobayashi, who Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent spinning. It is safe to say Freddie Kraft jumped to this conclusion after looking at the Indy results. 

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