Bubba Wallace: Hamlin's move at Kansas made this a 'somber week'

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Bubba Wallace is paid to race in NASCAR for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, so Hamlin raised eyebrows last weekend for pushing Wallace into the wall in a last-lap push for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

Hamlin drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and was seeking the 60th win of his Cup Series career and an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs. A win for Wallace would have put him into the third round of the playoffs for the first time in his career and guarantee at least one 23XI Racing driver is still part of the championship hunt.

Although the two had a brief interaction on pit road following the race — Chase Elliott came back from 10th on a two-lap overtime shootout to nab the win after the Hamlin and Wallace incident — it wasn't until Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that driver and team owner finally talked.

"I don't fault Denny Hamlin for racing for win, racing for his team and his sponsors," Wallace said. "I get the question a lot — what's it like racing Denny on the race track? No offense to them, but I could give two (profanity) because he's a competitor, and he has labeled it that way.

"So that was two competitors going for a win, and so as much as it didn't work out, I have to respect that."

Even so, Wallace estimated that 95% of the drivers felt that was an "oof" move by Hamlin, who was struggling with power steering issues. It also put Wallace and teammate Tyler Reddick in serious danger of elimination from the playoffs on Sunday when the field is trimmed from 12 drivers to eight on the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte.

Wallace, Reddick, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain are all below the cutline and likely need to win to stave off elimination. Only problem? Shane van Gisbergen is in the field and has won four road or street course races this season.

Reddick edged van Gisbergen in Saturday qualifying and will start at the Roval from the pole.

Wallace described the days since Kansas as "a somber week" and heard Hamlin say on his podcast that he would not apologize for trying to win a race.

"I hate it got to this point, the lingering effect, but Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago, and it was a good heart-to-heart," Wallace said. "The conversation came from a place of peace. It went better than I thought it would."

SVG seeks another win

Shane van Gisbergen has won four consecutive street or road course races this season to stamp himself as the betting favorite Sunday on the Roval.

But the New Zealander doesn't believe a win is automatic and considers both Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell formidable rivals, as well as all the drivers still mathematically eligible to advance. Bell finished in the top five in five of the last six road course races, including three runner-ups and a win at Circuit of the Americas this year.

"I think there's always good people. There's a lot of guys trying to get into the next round that will be stepping up, as well," he said. "I think obviously we're one of the favorites, but there's going to be some quick cars, so I really don't see it's going to be an easy race. It's going to be difficult and we're prepared well, so hopefully we're up there fighting for it."

He can't help but feel a little disappointed at being eliminated from the playoffs after the first round because if van Gisbergen was still in contention, he'd have a legitimate shot to advance into the third round on Sunday. He scored the highest finish on an oval of his career last week with a 10th-place finish at Kansas Speedway and believes he's had a decent round in which he's finally showing some competitiveness away from road and street courses.

"I felt like we were really getting better and hitting our stride for the playoffs, and then we had three pretty subpar weekends, actually. I didn't do the best I can, so I didn't feel like it, but maybe the pressure did get to us," he said, "and then as soon as we were out, we started going good again. It's frustrating how it works, but it's pretty awesome, the playoffs, and the pressure it puts on everyone. You'll probably see some crazy stuff (Sunday) with people trying to get in, and I think it gives good storylines."

Ty Gibbs vs. Denny Hamlin

Ty Gibbs declined to speak to media at Kansas last weekend to discuss an on-track incident with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin at New Hampshire, where Hamlin grew frustrated at how hard he was being raced by a non-playoff driver.

Hamlin wrecked Gibbs, the grandson of the team owner, and asked on his team radio if everyone at JGR was too scared to have a mature discussion with the 23-year-old about racing etiquette.

Hamlin acknowledged at Kansas that he got "too hot under the collar" when he wrecked Gibbs but insisted the teammates were in a good place following internal meetings. Gibbs, because of his ranking in the Cup Series standings, had no media obligations and so he refused to address the issue.

But he was required to make himself available to reporters Saturday at Charlotte, where he entered the theater-style room and went to a back row to sit on an arm rest in a thwarted attempt to not draw attention to his presence. A gaggle of reporters circled him and while Gibbs was polite, he wouldn't really discuss the situation with Hamlin.

"All the other guys answered it, so I'll just leave it at that,' Gibbs said as he danced around the questions. When told that Roger Penske makes it clear to the Team Penske drivers they cannot wreck each other, Gibbs said, "I don't think any team's got it 100% down.

"It's just racing. We're all out here racing for wins and the in-house organization, as well," Gibbs said. "I grew up around all these guys and I appreciated them a lot and I want the best for my team, as well. So I think we'll figure a lot of things out."

Odds and ends

The Roval is the sixth and final road course race of the season and the only road course in the playoffs. ... Four of the five previous Roval winners are current playoff drivers — Ryan Blaney (2018), Chase Elliott (2019 & 2020), Kyle Larson (2021 & 2024) and Christopher Bell (2022). ... The winner of the Roval went on to win the championship twice when Elliott did it in 2020 and Larson in 2021. ... Ford has not won at the Roval since Blaney's 2018 victory in the inaugural race. ... Hendrick Motorsports has yet to win a road course race this season after winning at least once on road courses every year between 2018 and 2024.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing