“I don’t wanna hear excuses”: Bubba Wallace’s spotter's unfiltered comments over NASCAR’s controversial Chicago ruling

23XI Racing Bubba Wallace's spotter, Freddie Kraft, shared his thoughts on NASCAR's ruling at the Chicago Street Course race last Sunday, July 6, 2025, on the Door Bumper Clear podcast on YouTube. Rick Ware Racing driver Cody Ware had a horrific crash during the final stage of the race, and the governing body took over 30 seconds to throw in a caution, resulting in backlash.

Ware had a bad start at the 75-mile race and began the race from P35 with a best time of 92.68 seconds and a top speed of 85.45 mph. He was nearly three seconds behind the pole-sitter, Shane van Gisbergen. However, the #51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driver showcased some flashes in the initial stage before getting wrecked into the outside barriers in the final laps of the race.

On the last lap of the race, Ware went head-to-head with an outside barrier, driving at 93 mph. Following the major crash, the stock car racing association waited for 35 seconds before throwing a caution, letting Gisbergen seal his win without any overtime. Reflecting on the same, Bubba Wallace's spotter criticized the decision.

"I know that. I'm sure that played into it. I'm sure the fact that we don't want to have forty green and white checkers on wet tires are playing into it. But it's just that at the end of the day, I don't want to hear excuses. I want them to come out and just say, You know, Cody, we're sorry. We will do better next time, because that needed to be a caution. is as hard as that kid hit the wall, and especially when you hear the radio, he's asking for help as soon as he hits the wall; that needed to be an instant yellow or as instant as it could," stated Bubba Wallace's spotter (via Dirty Mo Media on X) [00:50].

Cody Ware ranks 36th on the Cup Series points table with 144 points to his name this season. He has yet to secure a top-ten finish but has collected five unfortunate DNFs in 19 starts.

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Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman expressed their feelings about the Chicago Street Race incident

NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace had a heated moment with Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman during the Chicago Street Race on Sunday. The duo collided multiple times for a seventh-place finish before the HMS driver spun Wallace out, ending his chances of landing a spot among the top ten drivers.

Despite the situation, the Cup Series drivers showcased good sportsmanship and were in good spirits after the confrontation. Following that, Alex Bowman stated:

“I thought we had squashed our beef, but clearly we’ve not. I don’t know. I followed the 45 (Tyler Reddick) past him. He ran me into the inside wall in (Turn) 8. Still felt like I passed him clean, then he absolutely just demolished me into (Turn) 12. I gave it back a little bit into 1, and then he demolished me again into 2, ran me into the outside wall, and then I’m just a pinball between him and the outside wall at that point." (via NASCAR)

Reflecting on the same, Bubba Wallace also expressed his views and said,

“I’m just proud of the effort. You know, late call on the 5 that got us spun. Hated that. Just when you think everything’s going OK, but we were able to jump ship and switch up plans, put us right back in the race. So man, I was passing cars, having fun, showing that we keep improving and keep building confidence. We’ll be fine. So hate to see it end that way. It was fun. Fun with the 48. No love lost, all good.”

Alex Bowman ranks tenth on the Cup Series points table with 480 points and has yet to secure his playoff spot. He has also secured ten top-ten finishes and four top-five finishes with two pole positions.

While Bubba Wallace ranks 13th on the table with 443 points. He has six top-ten and three top-five finishes in 19 starts this season.