Former NASCAR Cup series driver and FOX Sports reporter Kenny Wallace reacted to the altercation between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the weekend.
Kenny Wallace via Kenny Wallace YouTube
Wallace shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel saying, “I believe Bubba Wallace has a chip on both of his shoulders, not just one. ‘I’m going to show him.’ I watched the replay over and over and over. Kyle Larson never even breathed — maybe he breathed on him. But Kyle Larson never touched Bubba Wallace. Never touched him.”
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Kenny Wallace continued, “It reminds me of the great Dick Trickle. ‘I didn’t give you much room, but I gave you enough room.'”
“Bubba Wallace on his own decided to run his own car into the wall,” Kenny Wallace declared. “I’m sorry that’s the way it is. You can say whatever you want, but I know what I’m talking about, okay.”
Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and Kevin Harvick via NASCAR YouTube
Kenny Wallace then pointed to Bubba’s interview following the wreck where he says he doesn’t lift.
Bubba Wallace told NBC Sports, “Cliff’s smart enough to know how easy these cars break so when you get shoved into the fence, deliberately like he did, trying to force me to lift, steering was gone. Just so happened to be there.”
“Hate it. Hate it for our team. Fast, super fast car. Had no short run speed. As you were seeing, we were kind of falling there. Larson wanted to make a three-wide dive bomb, never cleared me. I don’t lift so I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. Wasn’t even a spot to lift and he never lifted either and now we’re junk. Just a piss poor move on his execution,” Wallace added.
Addressing these remarks, Kenny Wallace said, “After the race, Bubba does the interview and says, ‘I don’t lift for nobody.’ Hey, you wrecked your stuff. You ran your car into the wall. All Bubba has to do is realize that he’s coming up, Kyle’s coming up. He’s gotta let out of the gas and then go back to racing him.”
“Then he loses his mind, right? Now, if he backs off the gas he goes on racing,” Kenny Wallace continued. “Now, Bubba runs his own self into the wall, okay, because Kyle scares him and Bubba’s got chips on his shoulders.”
Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Larson via NASCAR YouTube
Kenny then tells his listeners, “I’m not talking bad about Bubba Wallace, I’m telling you what Bubba’s doing here. Now, after he runs himself into the wall…he gets really pissed, more pissed. Takes out Kyle Larson and wrecks himself too.”
“Now, see this is where everybody thinks they’re going to be Dale Earnhardt Sr. Dale Earnhardt Sr. would have never wrecked himself. Bubba did two things wrong. Bubba ran himself into the wall and then got pissed and then went down and wrecked Kyle Larson and wrecked himself. So he did two things wrong,” he added.
Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Kevin Harvick via NASCAR YouTube
Moving to Bubba’s actions following the wreck, Kenny Wallace says, “What’s Bubba doing here? He goes over, Kyle mouths something back, and Bubba’s going to fight him. Of course, Kyle been in trouble a little bit as we all know. I’m not broaching that subject. That’s not the subject. Kyle’s been in a little trouble himself. Kyle’s like I’m out buddy.
“And Bubba’s the one pushing him. Bubba’s the one provoking him. ‘Come on, Kyle, do something back so we’re both suspended here.’ … Kyle Larson learned his lesson. Kyle did not take the bait. He was masterful in this moment,” Kenny Wallace noted.
Later in the video, Kenny Wallace questions what the punishment will be for Bubba Wallace, “Is NASCAR going to suspend Bubba Wallace? I don’t think they’re going to suspend Bubba Wallace for the shoving match. I predict that they better suspend Bubba Wallace for wrecking Kyle on purpose.”
Addressing Bubba Wallace’s excuse that he didn’t have steering, Kenny says, “He had steering. I will give Bubba Wallace an A+ for trying to insult our intelligence during the interview. ‘I don’t lift for nobody. I’m the man. I’m now a front runner.’ And Bubba’s thinking quick. ‘When I hit the wall, hey, I had no steering, okay.’ You had steering.”
Bubba Wallace via NASCAR YouTube
Kenny Wallace then asserts, “NASCAR has been suspending drivers that wrecked drivers on purpose forever. Go way back to Sears Point, Sonoma. As Schrader would say, ‘190-s**t.’ It was Davey Allison and Ricky Rudd on the 180 degree corner. They gave the victory to the guy that wrecked Davey or vice versa.”
“Now, if you want to bump somebody and they lose it — you can’t go from one lane and smash into another driver,” Kenny Wallace stated.
He then shared his prediction for what NASCAR’s punishment will be, “NASCAR will suspend Bubba Wallace. They will fine him big maybe not suspending him for wrecking Kyle Larson on purpose. Everybody could see it. He handled this whole deal wrong.”
Bubba Wallace via FOX
As Kenny Wallace noted, video footage of Wallace hitting the wall does not show Kyle Larson touching Wallace’s car at all. Instead Wallace appears to not let up as he noted in his interviews and he slammed hard into the wall.
After hitting the wall he bounces down into Larson. Larson then tries to avoid Wallace by diving down the track. Wallace chases him down the track and purposefully hits Larson in the right rear quarter panel sending him spinning up the track and into Christopher Bell and then the outside wall. Wallace also loses control of his vehicle and spins up the track hitting the outside wall with the nose of his vehicle.
What do you make of Kenny Wallace’s assessment of Bubba Wallace’s actions? What do you think NASCAR will do?
NEXT: Bubba Wallace Issues Apology After Attacking Kyle Larson At Las Vegas Motor Speedway