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Kyle Larson cheekily referenced his past rivalry with Bubba Wallace in a recent interaction with his social media followers, conceding that he has no desire to exchange fists with Wallace.
Larson and Wallace have frequently found themselves in on-track battles, with one particular occasion culminating in an off-track confrontation. Following a crash during the 2022 fall playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wallace confronted Larson and shoved him in frustration. Larson, however, chose not to retaliate.
In a recent interaction with his Instagram followers on April 21, Kyle Larson hosted a Question and Answer session prompting his followers to ask questions that were "different that normal." One Instagram user asked Larson to name a driver with whom he doesn't wish to engage in a physical altercation.
"Name a driver you wouldn't [want] to fight?" the question read.
The #5 Hendrick Motorsports cheekily replied that he has no desire to engage in another altercation with Bubba Wallace, having already experienced it once. He tagged the #23 Toyota driver in his reply, with a snap of the Las Vegas incident.
"@bubbawallace duh," Larson wrote.
With 23XI Racing on the rise, Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace have found themselves in frequent battles on the track. The duo recently came together at Richmond Raceway, where Wallace spun out Larson. The 23XI Racing driver was apologetic about his move, with both drivers agreeing to move past the incident.
After their run-in at Richmond, the duo were battling for the pole position the following weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Larson managed to clinch the pole with a margin of 0.001 seconds ahead of Wallace.
Exploring Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace's 2022 Las Vegas fallout
After winning the NASCAR Cup championship in 2021, Kyle Larson failed to advance past the Round of 8 the following year. Bubba Wallace was also not a part of the playoffs and was behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota for 23XI Racing.
The Cup Series headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first race of the Round of 8. In the second stage, Larson and Wallace were both battling for a top-five spot when the #5 Chevy driver ran the latter up to the wall. Wallace retaliated immediately as he hooked Larson's Chevy, wrecking both cars on the front stretch while collecting playoff driver Christopher Bell.
After both drivers got out of their cars, Wallace walked up to Larson and shoved him multiple times, with Larson maintaining his composure.
Wallace received a one-race suspension for the on-track retaliatory act and sat out of the following race at Homestead, in which Larson took a dominant victory.
