Daytona chaos: Bubba Wallace’s spotter calls out Kyle Larson, who fires back
Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft and Kyle Larson disagreed over who was at fault after a multi-car wreck in Stage 1 of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Chaos erupted towards the end of Stage 1 of the NASCAR Cup regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Multiple cars were involved in a wreck at the front of the pack, collecting Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, and a number of others.
Wallace was turned as Kyle Larson bump drafted him from behind, spinning onto the infield on lap 28. With his car returning to the track, he slammed into Austin Cindric as Alex Bowman was also collected in the mayhem.
Wallace's spotter, Freddie Kraft, immediately blamed Larson.
"5 [Larson] just tried to f*cking force middle there," he said. But Larson was not in agreement as he questioned the move on the radio.
"I don't know why Bubba was crowding him so much," he said.
Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, Austin Hill, Riley Herbst, and Zane Smith also sustained substantial damage to their machinery, but Bowman came off worst with him unable to return to the pits under his own power. He's now out of the race and his place in the playoffs is at risk.
"The hit from the 5 shoved me down there," Wallace told Parker Kligerman. "And it was like I got shoved up by the 22 when the 12 moved up. He was trying to just move up and take a lane, but oh well. Man, I hate it. 22nd to the lead in a short amount of time.”
Fortunately for Wallace, his win at the Brickyard 400 confirmed his place in the playoffs, so he quickly shrugged off the disappointing end to his race.
Photos from Daytona - Race
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Daytona - Saturday, in photos
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Daytona - Saturday, in photos
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Daytona - Saturday, in photos
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Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
Daytona - Saturday, in photos
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