"Who said that?" - Bubba Wallace dismisses rumors of fight with Aric Almirola

Bubba Wallace brushed off the rumor of being involved in any physical confrontation with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Aric Almirola. Wallace was reportedly on the receiving end of a scuffle between him and Almirola that led to the latter's indefinite suspension from competing.

According to The Athletic, at a weekly competition meeting, the part-time Xfinity driver Almirola was the instigator in a physical altercation with 23XI Racing driver Wallace. Both drivers are part of a technical alliance with Toyota. However, as per Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, the #23 Toyota driver Wallace denied any confrontation with the 40-year-old Almirola on May 25.

In a media interaction, the Fox Sports reporter asked the 30-year-old Wallace about the incident. To which Wallace replied (via FOX Sports):

"Who said that?"

When implied the altercation could be the reason for Almirola missing the Charlotte race, Wallace responded by saying:

"No, we've had our disagreements before, but damn, that's crazy."

The incident took place ahead of the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Ty Gibbs, the grandson of Joe Gibbs, owner of JGR, replaced #20 Almirola three days before the event on May 25. Till now, there hasn't been any official statement from the Joe Gibbs Racing team. After last month's Charlotte Xfinity race, a JGR spokesperson claimed it was a team decision to replace the Almirola with JGR Cup Series driver Gibbs for the one-off race.

NASCAR veteran Almirola was last seen piloting the #20 Toyota for JGR at Darlington Raceway on May 11 and finished the race at P5. Almirola is set to compete next at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Xfinity Series race on July 20.

Meanwhile, #23 Wallace is gearing up for the 19th Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on June 30.

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A brief look into Bubba Wallace's 2024 Cup Series season

The full-time driver for 23XI Racing Wallace is struggling to make his mark this Cup Series season.

Wallace has had three DNFs already this season. His recent one was the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Wallace is now below the playoffs cut line because of a late-race wreck with Stewart-Haas Racing driver Noah Gragson.

Here's a look at #10 Gragson's spin that collected #23 Wallace and #3 Austin Dillon:

The Alabama native Wallace is heading towards Nashville Superspeedway with three top-fives and five top-ten finishes so far. He sits at P15 in the overall Cup Series standings with 417 points to his name.