Dale Earnhardt Jr. 'can't applaud' Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace Kansas battle: 'Not like that'

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had no issue with Denny Hamlin racing for the win against Bubba Wallace on the final lap of overtime of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. However, he won’t applaud Hamlin after he washed up the track in Turn 3, making contact with Wallace who brushed the wall, costing them both the win.

“No, I can’t applaud it,” Earnhardt said on Tuesday’s Dale Jr. Download. “… Not like that, not with the car you own. If I was out there and drove down into the corner and put one of my guys into the wall, how much f*cking fires would I be putting out today?”

The important thing to note here is Hamlin is a co-owner of 23XI Racing. He is Wallace’s boss. At the same time, he drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He made it clear that on Sundays, his responsibility is to do what’s best for his JGR team.

With both drivers racing for a championship, Hamlin made the move that was best for him in that moment. Earnhardt believes he could have done some things differently.

Dale Earnhardt Jr on Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace incident at Kansas: ‘Little too much’

“Everybody’s gonna race as their competitors, I’m just saying this is a little too much. … It’s not the end of the world, I just think he could have done it differently and one of the two cars wins the race,” Earnhardt said. “He doesn’t have to let up, he doesn’t have to fall in line. Why did he not go to the bottom, right? Why did he drive into the corner and up the track and just totally take away the 23’s line? He had other ways to approach the corner, not that they would have worked. I mean, the likelihood of him completing a pass is not that high. So yes, he took the aggressive approach because he knew how low the percentage of the pass was, right?

“I just think that Denny’s personality and his approach and his ownership technique and everything, he’ll say, ‘Hey, if you’re going to drive my cars, this is how I do business.’ Will he do this every time? No, but in these situations racing for a championship and so forth, this what I’m gonna do and what I’m willing to do. That’s his prerogative, that’s his choice. It’s not the way I would have done it, but I’m not sitting there with 59 Cup wins either.”

Bubba Wallace facing must-win situation at ROVAL after Kansas

Wallace was upset with Hamlin after the race. He flipped him in the middle finger and later called him out in his post-race interview. A win would have locked Wallace into the Round of 8. Now, he’s in a virtual must-win situation heading into this Sunday’s Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL.

Earnhardt said that Wallace had every right to be frustrated with Hamlin. He credited him for being “very professional” after the race.

“I like his attitude of going for it, and I think he has to go for it, he owes it to his team,” Earnhardt said. “I just hate it because Bubba was in a good spot and Bubba did everything all day long to put himself in a great spot, and his own team owner [cost him]. I think if you’re Bubba, it’s hard to go, ‘Man, I don’t feel good about this.’

“I shouldn’t assume but if I’m Bubba, I’m going, ‘Man, I don’t wanna be OK with this. I’m not OK with this.’ I think Bubba did a great job and was very professional in his interview. But he had every opportunity and every right to be frustrated about that and voice that opinion.”