Bubba Wallace’s spotter defends his team amid race manipulation allegations

Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft has responded to the allegations that have arisen following Sunday’s playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. Given how the race ended, many fans and experts opined that the race had been manipulated by the Chevrolets and the Toyotas. One of the teams currently under fire is 23XI Racing, a two-car Cup Series team that Wallace drives for.

With about 20 laps to go, the Alabama native suddenly seemed to slow down, giving his fellow manufacturer driver Christopher Bell the 18th spot, which would have helped him close the points gap and tie Hendrick Motorsport driver William Byron. That would have resulted in a tiebreaker, where Bell would have won since he had the better average finish in the Round of 8 races.

Bell, driving the #20 car, needed anything better than a P13 finish at the Virginian paperclip to make the Championship race, given no driver below the cutline won. However, NASCAR penalized Bell for riding the wall, a move banned two years ago. This relegated him to a P22 finish and with that, his hopes to win the series title were shattered.

Kraft, however, defended his team in the most recent episode of the "Door Bumper Clear" podcast, saying,

“If we are manipulating the race, the second we get lapped, now we're the lucky dog. The #20 is the guy we're battling for the lucky dog. This happened probably, I don't know, 20-30 [laps]oto go is when we get lapped by the #5 (Kyle Larson) it was or the #9 [Chase Elliott]...I can't remember who was leading at the time. If we're trying to manipulate the race wouldn't it be way smarter of us to do it at that point and give the #20 the lucky dog just in case the caution comes out?

“Because if we don't do that now we're the lucky dog, the yellow comes out, the #20's trapped. He can't gain any more spots because now... there's nobody on his lap until we all round back around and maybe somebody gets lapped again."

As per Newsweek, NASCAR is expected to investigate the allegations against Bubba Wallace and a few other drivers such as Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain. If NASCAR does revisit its decision, it will be interesting to see how that affects Bell and Byron.

---

“Penalty coming to team”- NASCAR insider drops update on Bubba Wallace’s “expected” punishment

Bubba Wallace could be penalized if NASCAR deems his actions intentional. Bob Pockrass, a NASCAR journalist with FOX, made his thoughts known about the same through a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).

Pockgrass wrote,

“NASCAR tore down Wallace car. Would expect if nothing broke, penalty coming to team."

Wallace had explained after the race that he had to slow down because he felt something was wrong with his car. He told NBC’s Dustin Long in a post-race interview,

“I went loose or something broke and he’s nursing it. And then he tried to slide me. I’m like ‘Brother!’ Just trying to bide our time and not crash and bring out out a caution. So that was it.”

Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain's actions are under the scanner as well. The duo were seen by many to have deliberately tailed Byron with 15 laps to go without attempting to pass him.

Pockrass also stated,

“Hard to predict Dillon/Chastain b/c didn’t lose spots (don’t expect anything to Byron). There isn’t a no blocking rule. 100% rule but does that require risk on outside or a bump?”

As race fans await NASCAR to intervene, the drivers prepare for what might just be the most important race of the season.

The Championship 4 race will be held on November 10 from 3 pm ET onwards. Live coverage of the event will be provided exclusively by NBC, while radio updates will be available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.