"Just piss poor move": When frustrated Bubba Wallace manhandled a Cup Series champion for rendering him 'junked'

In 2022, Bubba Wallace had 29 laps led in the bag and produced a strong pace since the South Point 400 began at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. However, while battling for the 6th place, the 23XI Racing driver got "wronged" by the 2021 Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson. As a result, Wallace manhandled the Hendrick Motorsports driver after their NextGen cars succumbed to DNF.

Wallace wasn't in the playoffs but his pace exhibited high odds of upsetting the championship contenders. After starting from ninth, the Alabama native bagged the Stage 1 win and ran with the frontrunners during the second stage. However, neither of the drivers could complete Stage 2, as calamity struck during a three-wide battle.

On Lap 94, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, and Bubba Wallace fought door-to-door, but Stewart-Haas Racing's Harvick backed off while the other two continued their pursuit. But while steering through Turn 4, Larson's #5 Chevy got loose and moved up the track, forcing Wallace's #23 Toyota into the outside wall.

The 23XI Racing driver wasn't happy with the rival's move and charged behind Larson. Furthermore, he appeared to have intentionally clipped the HMS driver following which both the NextGen cars drifted wildly toward the infield grass before coming to a standstill.

Bubba Wallace was frustrated and, after exiting his ride, rushed to Larson and violently pushed the driver before officials interfered and separated the two apart.

Following is the video depicting the incident (via NASCAR on NBC).

"You get shoved into the fence deliberately like he [Larson] did trying to force me to lift, the steering was gone. He just happened to be there. Hate it for our team. Super fast car. Larson wanted to make a three-wide dive bomb but never cleared me and I don’t lift. I know I’m kinda new running at the front, but I don’t lift, was never in a spot to lift and he never lifted either. Now we’re junk. Just piss poor move on his execution," Wallace said via NASCAR.

"He knows what he did was wrong. He never cleared me and just hate it for my team," the frustrated 23XI Racing driver added.

NASCAR reprimanded Bubba Wallace and slapped him with one race suspension and the driver missed the next race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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"I knew he was going to retaliate": Kyle Larson gave his take on turmoil with Bubba Wallace

The HMS driver entered the 2022 season as the defending champion and was the title contender, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. However, after his run-in with Wallace and the following DNF, Larson failed to advance to the next round and lost his shot at a second consecutive championship.

When asked about the Lap 94 incident, Larson, unlike Bubba Wallace, was calm and expressed he expected retaliation from the 23XI Racing driver. The #5 Chevy said he didn't force Wallace deliberately into the fence and that the latter's "mistake" ended their run. It's worth mentioning that Wallace's move cascaded into Christopher Bell's misery, whose rear got wrecked by Larson's Chevy's violent screeching on the asphalt.

“I knew he was going to retaliate. He had reason to be mad but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated. It is what it is. Just aggression turned into frustration and he retaliated. I know he’s probably still upset but I’m sure with everything going on he’ll know he made a mistake in the retaliation part and I’m sure he’ll think twice about it next time," Larson said via NASCAR.

With three wins, 13 top-5s, and 19 top-10s, Kyle Larson wrapped the 2022 season in 7th place, while Bubba Wallace settled in 19th, with a solitary victory, five top-5s, and ten top-10s.