“Keep some people's images good”: Bubba Wallace shares a cryptic message after being asked about his feud with Aric Almirola

Bubba Wallace refused to shed light on the altercation between him and former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola. The incident happened during a meeting among Toyota drivers, just a day before this year's BetMGM 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Almirola retired from full-time racing in 2022 but returned as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the Xfinity Series. His most recent win came at Martinsville, where he held off his teammate Chandler Smith and JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer on an overtime restart, en route to the victory lane.

Bubba Wallace, on the other hand, drives for 23XI Racing, a team that is closely affiliated with Joe Gibbs Racing. According to an older report by NBC Sports, 23XI Racing obtains chassis and other forms of technical support from Joe Gibbs Racing. Therefore, both Wallace and Almirola were present during the meeting last month.

Renowned journalist Bob Pockrass interviewed Bubba Wallace asking the latter about the incident. However, Wallace did not get into the details and said:

"They don't want me to get into the details, keep some people's images good. I think I've said enough last Charlotte last year. Oh no, life is good for me; that sh*t happened over a month ago. A lot of goods (have) come my way and that's what I'm focused on. Focused on getting our stuff turned back around."

There is no news regarding what happened back then. Following a heated exchange of words, Almirola was seen shoving Bubba Wallace, and the latter was heard saying:

"When you walk around with two faces, that’s what you get."

Reportedly, Almirola was the one to have started the beef. As a result, the 40-year-old was suspended and therefore, has not raced since the Memorial Day weekend.

Bubba Wallace currently sits 15th on the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 417 points to his name. He is just 13 points behind the 2024 playoff cutline with 3 top-5s and 5 top-10s.

Bubba Wallace's boss gives his take on the incident

For Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI Racing and full-time driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, everything about the Almirola-Wallace altercation was hearsay. In an interview reported by NASCAR, the 54-time winner explained that he would not opine on the matter, as he wasn't there when the same had happened.

“I don’t really have a comment on it because I wasn’t there at the time,” Hamlin said. “So I don’t know what all transpired. It’s all hearsay from my standpoint."

Hamlin further added that Joe Gibbs Racing has the final say in matters like these. Unwilling to dive deeper into the issue, the veteran racer said,

"At 23XI, we let Joe Gibbs Racing handle it and they did what they saw fit. Again, I don’t know all the details because I didn’t want to get too much into the personal business, and I still don’t."

Recording a top speed of 160.354 miles per hour, Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday's race at Nashville Superspeedway. Bubba Wallace, on the other hand, qualified 24th. Aric Almirola is expected to compete in the July 20 Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.