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Motorsport

Why it took six days for Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace to talk Kansas

Denny Hamlin Bubba Wallace Kansas Christopher Bell Toyota

It took until lunchtime on Saturday for Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin to talk about what happened on the final lap while racing for the win at Kansas Speedway.

Six days.

Since then, Hamlin had took questions from the media, recorded a podcast and even tweeted about his lack of regret or remorse, and that created additional tension between himself and the driver that pilots his No. 23 car at 23XI Racing.

But the eventual conversation was productive.

“Look it was definitely a somber week for sure, and I hate that it got to this point – the lingering effect, but Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago,” Wallace said during a scheduled media availability at the Charlotte Roval. “It was a good, heart-to-heart conversation. It came from a place of peace. It went better than I thought it would. He shared his side of things, and I shared mine and we had common ground.”

The point that Wallace made repeatedly during his 15 minutes in front of the assembled media was a frustration that Toyota teams occupied the first five spots coming to the final restart and none of them won.

Chase Elliott did.

“Just so we are all clear on that -- that is not going to be the last time where I’m battling for a win and it doesn’t go our way in some fashion, whether that is Denny or anybody in the field,” Wallace said. “I’ll be a little gracious here and say 95 percent of the people on this side of the catchfence look at that move as, ‘oof,’ and that’s it. …

“I don’t fault Denny Hamlin for racing for a win, racing for his team and his sponsors. I get the question a lot – what is it like racing Denny, on the race track, no offense to him, but I could give two shits because he is a competitor, and he has labeled it that way.That was two competitors going for a win, and so as much so as it didn’t work out, I have to respect that.”

But he was the most frustrated that a Toyota didn’t win. He said he texted a Toyota representative, likely Tyler Gibbs, and expressed that fact too. And also, he said he draws a line between pushing someone up the track and pushing them into the wall.

And to be clear, Wallace had to eat some crow with Christopher Bell after the race, because he caused Bell to get into the wall, which allowed Hamlin to make up the ground for their battle too.

“There is a fine line, obviously, of just forcing someone to lift, but also putting someone in the fence,” Wallace said. “I texted CBell after the race and said my full intentions were to make you lift, not put you in the fence, and I apologized for that. He took it, I guess, as best as he could, but I reached out immediately because I saw the replay after the fact, and was like ‘damn, I did not want that,’ but I allowed him – I don’t know how long it takes you to get from Turn 3 to Turn 4, a couple of seconds, I allowed him to see that

“Just the way it was handled after the fact was a frustration too.”

Again, Wallace didn’t appreciate that it took six days for he and the boss man, to have a conversation about Kansas.

“It was just the way it was kind of handled behind the scenes,” Wallace said. “(It) just kept going, kept adding fuel to the fire and I hate that it got to that point, and I expressed my displeasure to Denny today, and he totally respected that.”

Wallace said that he needs closure to focus, especially before a must-win elimination race, and that his team owner denied him that.

“I expressed to him, that what you need from your driver is to be at 110 percent focused on what to do, how to execute, and how to go out there and beat SVG,” Wallace said. “I had a dark cloud over my mind all week long, man, it’s not fair to my team.

“I expressed that, he told me he respected that, and frankly the conversation allowed him to see things from a different perspective. Denny usually doesn’t do that but this allowed him to have that opportunity.

“As much as I wanted to come in here and MF the guy, the competitor Denny, the conversation went better than expected and you feel lighter on your feet. There is a transition period that you have to go through, and it sucks that it is happening on Saturday.”

Hamlin didn't realize Wallace was upset

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota; Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Photo by: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hamlin said after qualifying that he ‘truthfully’ didn’t realize Wallace was upset and that’s why it took so long.

“If I’m being honest, I listened to his post-race, and it was just about two guys going for it and he shook my hand,” Hamlin said. “It was quick but I didn’t know he was upset. But I should have checked with him to make sure.”

He also just wanted it to be a face-to-face chat and he doesn't always attend 23XI's competition meetings in person.

"It takes times, because I have a lot going on and I knew we would be at the same place at the same time, here."

He kept their conversation private but said that he just wanted to hear Wallace out. He said it lasted 15 minutes.

“I listened,” Hamlin said. “The biggest thing was listening and being a race car driver, what has made me successful is continuing to evolve and get better, so even as an adult, just trying to get better, whether it be on track or off track.

“So, I feel as thought it was important to me to listen and then give mine, and have that perspective for each other. It obviously went really well and I feel like we’re in a good place.”