Denny Hamlin Claims Rick Hendrick’s Redemption Star Might Have Saved Bubba Wallace From NASCAR’s Harsh Punishment: “Bowman Underplayed It”

Bubba Wallace turned a P31 finish from last year’s Chicago Street Race to a P13 this year. It was his best outing yet on a road course in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series. But Wallace’s temper caught up to him right after the race. As of now, he finds himself once again, in some unwarranted controversy, thanks to a door slam on the winner of the second annual Grant Park 165, Alex Bowman.

The #48 driver made everyone on his race team proud in Chicago, especially the owner, Rick Hendrick. After all, with his eighth career Cup win, Bowman has ensured that all 4 of Hendrick Motorsports Chevys will battle each other for the 2024 championship in the playoffs. However, Denny Hamlin’s #23 driver from 23XI Racing is still clawing for a way into the post-season. Hamlin demands better results. Instead, Wallace was found guilty of making headlines for the wrong reasons. And graced with the forgiveness of Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin believes that his driver might just have escaped NASCAR’s punishment… barely.

Denny Hamlin analyzes Bubba Wallace’s controversial move on Alex Bowman

The 23XI owner-cum-Joe Gibbs driver finished P30 himself once the chaos of another rain-delayed Chicago Street Race finally settled down. The Floridian-born had rolled off the grid in P11, but his #11 JGR Toyota Camry was involved in more than just a few incidents. His most notable brush-ups happened against Ricky Stenhouse Jr in Stage 2 and Austin Hill moments before the race was called on Lap 58 at 8:20 PM CST due to nearly a two-hour red flag for rain delay. All in all, we witnessed another dramatic affair in Chicago this time around.

Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental co-host Jared Allen noted on the latest episode, “We had some drama in this race between drivers… But the one that’s that’s taking over social media is Bubba and Bowman. Bowman getting into Bubba earlier in the race which took him out of a top-10 running spot and then Bubba making contact with him on the cool-down laps.” This drama between Bowman & Wallace began when the duo checked up right next to each other exiting the pit road on wets for a “logjam” caused at the front of the pack. This had resulted in Wallace’s teammate, Tyler Reddick’s #45 giving the stationary #23 a sight nudge from behind, as the race restarted with Bowman & Wallace running P5 & P6, respectively. But the crux of the issue that made Wallace mad enough to slam Bowman into the wall on the cool-down lap happened around Lap 24.

As the field took a right onto Lake Shore Drive off Turn 2, Bubba Wallace was spun around by contact from Bowman’s #48 car amidst a watery mist from rain puddles on the race track. The #23 was running inside the Top 5 at this time, and as a result, the six-time Craftsman Truck Series winner lost integral track position. That incident likely played in Bubba Wallace’s mind when he retaliated against Alex Bowman once the race was over and the cars made their routes to their respective haulers. The fallout from this aggression has not been as kind to Bubba (as expected). But what does his team owner, Denny Hamlin, think of these developments?

Denny said, “I don’t know how NASCAR is going to view it. So, how this is different than let’s say Carson Hocevar is that: one is under yellow, and under yellow, that means that there is an unsafe condition and there are safety vehicles on the racetrack. At the end of the race there are no safety vehicles on the racetrack and it’s not a unsafe condition. You know, there’s not a driver’s safety issue. So I don’t know how they’ll view it…”

“You know, Carson spun someone under yellow and it cost them positions and damage to their car, so that hurt Harrison Burton for the rest of the race. This was: the race was over. He took a swipe at Bowman and you know I think Bowman underplayed it a little bit in the media. But yeah, I don’t know how they’ll view it. I think that they could go either way with this because it’s just, it is different than wrecking someone under caution…” – opined Denny, when contemplating Wallace’s potential punishment after Bowman’s acceptance, compared to Carson Hocevar’s $50,000 fine for the Nashville debacle.

He then explains how the people who root for Bubba will be swaying one side, while his haters will sway the other. That’s not too surprising, considering Bubba Wallace is the most polarizing driver NASCAR has seen in recent years. But he also thinks that “the answer is somewhere in the middle,” and the Hocevar incident differs from Wallace’s simply because of the safety aspect of being under caution versus being the end of the race.” Hamlin elaborates, “There’s no safety vehicles out there everyone’s running slow speeds. So I don’t know where they (NASCAR) go with this. He’ll probably get a talking to, maybe get a fine or something. But that’d be all that I think comes of this.” 

However, Jared Allen aimed to bring a different perspective to Denny Hamlin when he read Bowman’s quotes to NBC’s Nate Ryan, which went something like, “NASCAR should not penalize Bubba. He barely hit me. Everything was fine and it was plenty deserved.” To this, Denny replied, noting the #48 driver’s sportsmanship, “I think Bowman’s taken the high road there… He’s feeling good and I think that he’s taken the high road there knowing that he made a mistake early on. And he’s trying to repay that mistake through comments in the media. That would be my feeling and gut on it.” But as Jared Allen interrupted Hamlin to draw a chuckle mid-sentence with a sly observation on Alex Bowman’s forgiving demeanor: “It’s easy (to take the high road) when you just won.”

Post-race bumps are common, says 23XI co-owner

He then shifted his observations to the face value of the Bowman-Bubba frustrations, and the difficulty NASCAR currently faces in issuing a final verdict. “If anything, just the Optics don’t help. They just handed down a fine for something similar or at least that fans would look at.” – speculated Allen.

His co-host evidenced his extensive experience when he raised the rhetorical question: “All of these things are judgment calls, right?” By that, Hamlin meant, “We see it all the time. I mean, I got into the back of Larson under caution at Nashville right and you know we make contact with each other under caution most times. If you were there in the race and you’re looking for something you’re going to find two drivers that are trying to send a message to each other under caution a lot of times. It’s just sometimes the camera’s on you. Sometimes the camera’s not. Most of the time the camera is not.” He makes an astute observation, as it is barely child’s play to cover a NASCAR race from all angles to ensure the viewers receive updates on 36+ cars running the field on a given day.

Hamlin described in detail, “The people only see where the camera’s focused on that moment. And likely if it’s someone in 20s, something? They really don’t care about that contact. And so they’re not going to put it on TV. But this happens all the time, especially after races as well. You won’t be able to find one race that somebody didn’t go up and knock somebody sideways after the race was over to voice their displeasure. So it’s it’s very common. I don’t agree with it but I’m guilty of it as well.”

Nevertheless, those involved in these controversial events await NASCAR’s verdict, which normally drops on Tuesday after ample dissection & careful review. Will they be as harsh as they were during the Hocevar situation? Only time will tell, as the calls of controversy surround Bubba Wallace yet again.