Kyle Larson breaks down how Bubba Wallace’s involvement “messed up” his strategy at WWT Raceway

Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson; 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace (via Getty)

Kyle Larson’s strategy for Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway got messed up due to a restart incident involving 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. After the race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver revealed how things went down.

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After winning Stage 2, Wallace’s car got stuck in first gear while he was leading the pack. This caused him to nearly trigger a massive wreck that could have caught Larson in the mess.

Detailing the situation during a post-race interview with NBC Sports, Larson said,

"We had a great, great car. Just a restart when the 23 wasn’t able to get going, I think it messed our strategy up and whatnot after that. That was unfortunate.”
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Kyle Larson finished the race 12th, while Wallace bagged a P8, marking his 12th top-10 finish of the season. Both drivers are in comfortable positions to make the Round of 12, with Wallace and Larson placed 50 and 60 points above the cutoff line, respectively.

Denny Hamlin, who owns 23XI Racing that Wallace drives for, won the race. With that, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver made the Round of 12 alongside his teammate Chase Briscoe, who won the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last Sunday.

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“It’s so big for everyone at Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing,” Hamlin said after winning his fifth race of the season. “The Toyota was just great there at the end. And so happy to get this victory.”

Next up for the drivers is the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Scheduled for next Saturday, September 13, the 500-lap race will be televised on USA from 7:30 pm ET onwards. Fans can listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio as well.

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Kyle Larson comments on his run-in with Team Penske’s former Cup champion

Kyle Larson got involved in an on-track tango with Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. It wasn’t done on purpose, but it did leave the latter confused.

Blaney walked up to Larson while he was speaking with the reporters and demanded clarification. Larson knew that Blaney had every reason to be mad at him, and so, he explained why he did what he did. Turns out that the HMS ace had misjudged his right front.

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“I misjudged it," Larson told the reporters. "The lap before, I went in, I was able to get to his door and get him tight. The next time, I was trying to do the same thing and wasn’t going to get there and was going to tuck back in line and just clipped him. He should be upset. I just misjudged it.”

While Blaney bagged a fourth-place finish, his 11th top-five of the season, Kyle Larson settled for a P12. His teammates Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman finished third, 11th, and 26th, respectively.

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua
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