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The NASCAR fanbase has been divided since Bubba Wallace stood as the first pick in Greg Olsen's NASCAR title-winner gamble.
The 23XI Racing driver has competed in all four Cup Series races of the season, taking home two top-5s. As of now, Wallace has 97 points in the bag and is placed at 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
The 30-year-old's last two runs — at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (35th) and the Phoenix Raceway (16th) — ended on a dismal note compared to the first two races of the season, where he bagged consecutive P5s, doing so at the Daytona 500 and the Ambetter Health 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Ahead of the Food City 500 race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, former Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen has gambled on Bubba Wallace's odds of sealing the championship. This comes after the state of North Carolina legalized online betting.
Olsen placed his bet live and the same was posted by motorsports journalist Jordan Bianchi on his X (formerly Twitter) account:
"I'm putting $4100. [It's] a really good bet and just so you know I'm not lying to you, here it is- Bubba Wallace is [the] first pick to win the Cup Series championship, said Greg."
Unlike the applause received by the former NFL star on his live bet, the online NASCAR community has been left divided over the $4,100 worth of bet placed on the 2x NASCAR Cup Series race winner.
Suggesting that Olsen's prediction will not come true, one fan wrote:
"Why is he throwing money away"
Another fan jokingly took a jibe at the legalization of betting, expressing:
"That’s why betting was illegal"
Here are a few more reactions from fans who expressed their views after learning about the gamble.
Wallace came into 2024 on the back of his best-ever season in the Cup Series, where he finished 10th in the standings.
Bubba Wallace's team co-owner Denny Hamlin reveals what exactly happened during the painful pitstop
During the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 race, Bubba Wallace pitted his car for fresh compounds only to discover a stuck lug nut on the front left tire that would require him to pit again. Despite unwavering efforts by the pit crew, they couldn't remove the nut and had to cut it off using a saw when the Alabama native came into the pitlane again.
However, according to 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, the lug nut was never stuck and only became tighter when the heavy-duty gun was used wrongly. Hamlin explained how misinterpreting the toggles on the gun cost them an otherwise promising outcome.
Motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass shared the 43-year-old's revelation about Wallace's fateful pitstop on X (formerly Twitter) account:
"When they grabbed the heavy-duty gun, it's the same brand, but the off position is 'on' on that side and 'off' on this side so it's opposite. So when we went to take it off, we actually just tightened it even more because the switch is backwards on the same brand gun. Can't make it up."
Hamlin added:
"I think we'll probably just weld it in the unlock position on the heavy-duty gun. I don't think there's any reason to tighten anything with that heavy-duty gun."
