Sunday’s Cup Series race at Darlington saw William Byron dominate the majority of it, but it was Ryan Blaney who chased down Tyler Reddick for the win, or so he thought. Just as Blaney passed Reddick, Kyle Larson spun off of Bubba Wallace’s bumper. The incident sparked heated talks on social media, as some firmly believe that the driver of the No. 23 Toyota spun Larson on purpose to give his teammate and his owner a shot at the race win. In contrast, others see it as Larson’s fault for braking off turn 2, where no one would expect him to. But who is at fault, after all? We’ll break it down for you.
For starters, it’s noteworthy that neither Larson nor Wallace were on the lead lap. Instead, Bubba was a lap down as he had just been lapped by the leaders, while Larson was over 160 laps down. The Hendrick Motorsports driver had crashed out of the same turn on lap 4. After taking his car to the garage and having his crew repair it, he got back on the racetrack and gained one spot, finishing the race in the 37th position, or rather, not finishing.
The incident between Larson and Wallace took place with 6 laps to go, just as the leaders got by. Blaney, with slightly fresher tires and the clear fastest long-run car, had run down Tyler Reddick, cutting 17 seconds off of his lead on the final green flag run, but that didn’t win him the race, as the caution came out, and his pit crew had a slower stop than the eventual race winner, Denny Hamlin. Blaney ended up 5th.
Because it changed the outcome of the race and, likely, because Bubba Wallace’s team owner won the race, it sparked heated conversations and raised questions: Did Bubba Wallace spin Kyle Larson to win Toyota a race, which would be called “race manipulation.” We’ll let you make your own decision, but as for what the data indicates, that does not appear to be the case.
This is the SMT data from the exact same moment of the accident. In blue, you see the current lap, while in yellow, you see the previous lap. And what does it show?
While with 5 laps to go, Kyle Larson never touched the brakes off of turn 2, with 4 to go, he seemingly stepped hard on them, an unexpected event for the driver of the No. 23, who ended up getting into the rear of the No. 5. “It wasn’t warranted for the 5 to check up that much,” said Bubba Wallace in an interview with Jeff Gluck. Wallace left his car and went to talk to his lifelong friend, Ryan Blaney, whispering something that was not revealed by either of them afterward.
On the other hand, Larson avoided encounters with the media after the race. His crew chief, Cliff Daniels, reported that Larson felt bad about playing a part in that last caution of the race, which completely changed its outcome. Denny Hamlin, the beneficiary of that incident, “praised” Larson sarcastically in his race-win interview: “There’s two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson. Had a little assist there, so thank you.”
Hamlin won his 56th career race, breaking a tie with Rusty Wallace for the sole possession of 11th place on the all-time wins list, and is now 4 away from tying Kevin Harvick for 10th. He’s also gotten his 5th career victory at Darlington, which ranks him 4th all-time, tied with legends such as Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, and Darrell Waltrip. He’s now chasing Jeff Gordon (7), Dale Earnhardt (9), and David Pearson (10).
What do you think, race fan? Was the incident a deliberate move by Bubba Wallace to help his teammates, or did Kyle Larson exaggerate on the braking? Join the discussion on our Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
