If we ask ‘What do you love about NASCAR,’ there will be different answers. But, one thing all will agree upon is the raw emotions and unprecedented actions making the sport ‘Truly American’! Racers rarely cut each other slack and there have been crashes since the sport’s existence. However, Jimmie Johnson has the perfect way to put it, “People love the crashes; people love the hits in football. But still, you have to keep the athletes safe and protect their lives, their families, and put on a good show as well.” While that stands true, fights that break out on NASCAR fields post-crash are UN-REAL!
Remember the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race of 2024? Stenhouse Jr. threw punches at Kyle Busch. Also, the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond had Marcos Ambrose punching Casey Mears in the face on live television! And we all know, NASCAR isn’t too kind to drivers who get physical with their contemporaries. With the Las Vegas race coming up next, fans can’t help remembering the 2022 ‘Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson’ incident. Taking a trip down memory lane, here’s how it went down.
Kyle Larson suffered the brunt of Bubba Wallace’s rage
Let’s go back to October 16, 2022. The South Point 400 was heating up at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and then, chaos erupted. Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson tangled on lap 94, and what followed was a moment that had everyone, including Rick Hendrick’s crew, staring in disbelief. But, what was it all about?
Kyle Larson, in his No. 5 Hendrick Chevy, tried squeezing Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota up the track in Turn 4. Wallace didn’t budge, and Larson’s car clipped him, sending Wallace spinning into the wall. Larson’s ride got wrecked too, and Christopher Bell got caught in the mess. But Wallace wasn’t done. He stormed out of his car, still on the track, and marched 300 yards across the infield, and shoved Larson five times, ignoring officials the whole way.
Larson admitted his in-race move was aggressive but said Wallace overreacted by hitting him into Bell and then charging after him later. “I knew he [Bubba Wallace] was going to retaliate some,” he said. “Probably a little bit overboard, and I get it—I made it a three-wide situation going into (Turn) 3 that ended up taking him out.” A highlight clip by FOX shows it clear as day where Wallace’s fury was instant, unfiltered, and aimed right at Larson’s chest.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps was not very happy about it. He stated in an The Athletic interview, “Sometimes it goes over the line, for sure — the Bubba Wallace situation, obviously, crossed the line in our opinion — but we don’t create the storylines. This isn’t WWE. It unfolds as it unfolds. It’s having some races that are not as competitive as other races. That just happens. Some races are extraordinary, and others are not. But it’s whatever our drivers are doing on that racetrack, whatever the crews are doing in the pits, and the strategic moves crew chiefs are making is what makes NASCAR NASCAR.”
As reflected from the statement, NASCAR didn’t let it slide. Bubba Wallace was suspended one race after the Kyle Larson incident. He became the first driver in years to get a race ban for on-track retaliation, missing Homestead-Miami. It broke every post-crash safety rule. Wallace owned it, sort of.
NASCAR quoted his apology: “I want to apologize for my actions. … It’s not my character.” His team, 23XI Racing, backed him up, saying they’d handle it internally and respect NASCAR’s call. Co-owner Denny Hamlin told, “Certainly you don’t ever want to put yourself or your team in a situation to miss a race,” but stood by Wallace’s passion. Still, the damage was done both literally and figuratively. Larson’s Hendrick squad was left damage controlling as their playoff hopes were dented while Wallace’s outburst sparked a firestorm. Now, fans were split hard.
After the incident, some saw a guy standing up for himself; others saw a reckless meltdown. The heat was felt through the screen when Wallace’s anger reached a boiling point and he let it rip. But you could tell Kyle Larson was rattled. That day in Vegas, Wallace didn’t just shove Larson; he shoved NASCAR’s norms right off the track. But, since then, things have never looked so ugly for him ever. Where’s his remote at?
MJ is Bubba Wallace’s rage remote
Bubba Wallace feels the heat and it’s not just from the racetrack. As a driver for 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan since 2020, he’s navigating a pressure cooker that doesn’t let up when the engines stop. Jordan, the first Black full-time Cup Series owner, didn’t just dip his toes into NASCAR with Denny Hamlin. He dove in, and Bubba’s carrying that weight off the track every day.
“He’s always watching, no matter where he’s at in the world,” Bubba shared on his cousin Trey’s podcast. Whether it’s before or after a race, Jordan’s texts hit Bubba’s phone like clockwork. He might not be at every event, but his presence still felt in 23XI camp. “They know the commitment that he has, and it’s just really really special to be a part of it,” Wallace said. That commitment isn’t just inspiring but a constant push that keeps Bubba on edge.
Off the track, it’s a grind. Jordan’s not a distant figurehead; he’s the basketball icon who redefined winning, now demanding the same from the 23XI Racing team. Bubba feels it in every message—a mix of expectation and trust that’s tough to shake. His Talladega win was a high, proof he can deliver, but the lows hit harder under Jordan’s gaze. Those texts aren’t casual, they’re a reminder that Bubba’s not just racing for himself but for a team, a vision, a new NASCAR era.
The pressure’s relentless, shadowing him from the garage to his quiet moments at home. He’s proud to be part of Jordan’s legacy where every crew member feels that spark. But Bubba’s still wrestling with the off-track intensity, learning to shoulder a load that’s as heavy as any on-track battle.
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