Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace battle on final lap at Kansas

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some interesting things to say about what happened with Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace during the final lap at Kansas. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared his reaction to Hamlin and Wallace contacting each other when they were battling for the lead and the win.

“Denny Hamlin sure goes down in a corner and is going up the track,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “He’s taking his line, he run him aggressive, very aggressively. I know Bubba hit the wall because his car is tight, and he’s on the outside, this phenomenon of the air that we just talked about, but there was room. It was like a car and a half.

Earnhardt added, “Did Denny cost him the win? He did. But I don’t know that Denny knew that was what was going to happen when they went down the corner. Denny’s trying to win the race, fired it down in there, sent it into Turn 3.”

What happened with Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace at Kansas?

During the final restart in overtime of the Kansas race, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin were battling for the lead. On the backstretch of Turn 3, Hamlin steered to the inside of Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota Camry, which led to Wallace heading into the outside wall in Turn 4. While that was going on, Chase Elliott got past Wallace and Hamlin to take the checkered flag and clinch a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8.

After the race, Hamlin shared his thoughts on the race and the final-lap battle with Wallace. “Just super disappointing,” he said. “I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast. Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn’t finish it there on the last corner. “Obviously got really, really tight with the 23, and it just got real tight and we let the 9 win.”

Wallace also reacted to the battle with Hamlin, who is his boss at 23XI Racing. “To even have a shot at the win with the way we started, I told Post, You could have fooled me,” he said. “We were not good. We missed it on the fire-off speed. I just really appreciate the team. Two years ago, I’d probably say something dumb. He’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there.”