Bubba Wallace Jr. on his contact with Clash at the Coliseum runner up Austin Dillon: “He's just always running into…”

The driver of the #23 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace Jr. kicked off the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season on a high despite what the final results of the Busch Light Clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum might represent. The Mobile, Alabama native was seen at the sharp end of the field for the majority of the first half of the 150-lap-long exhibition-style race, before falling back after half-time.

With 9 laps to go, the race saw Wallace Jr. battle with Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon. The battle, which had been ongoing for several laps, including one restart, was finally tipped over when the #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver decided to spin Wallace Jr. out, essentially taking away the latter's chances of a decent finish.

The Mobile, Alabama native spoke about the incident in a post-race interview and said:

"The #3 just never tried to make the corner, he was always running into my left rear. But it is what it is, I got run into the fence by him down the straightaway on that restart, so I gave him a shot, and then we get dumped. So, it sucks."

Bubba Wallace Jr. also elaborated on how the many restarts that broke up the race created issues for the #23 Toyota Camry TRD driver in the form of tire temperatures. He said:

"We were really good at the first half of the race obviously, then all the cautions, I couldn't tell if I was letting it get too cold or letting it get too hot and once I fell back to fourth I realized I was letting everything get too cold. But quickly adjusted and got back going."

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Austin Dillon gave his side of the story on contact with Bubba Wallace Jr.

Richard Childress racing driver Austin Dillon spoke about what he thought of the incident that involved the #3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver and 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace Jr. during the final laps of the Busch Light Clash last Sunday and said:

"For Bubba (Wallace Jr.), he had a good car and a good run but you can't tell who's either pushing him or getting pushed. I just know he sent me through the corner, I saved it three times through there, released the brake, all kinds of stuff, and when I got down, I was gonna give the same. Probably was a little too hard."

Watch Bubba Wallace Jr. take on the challenge of the 65th run of the Daytona 500 later this month, a race he almost won last year.