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Freddie Kraft reacts to 'frustrating' No. 23 Chicago result, Bubba Wallace-Alex Bowman beef

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones07/08/25brianjones_93
Bubba Wallace (24)
Jul 5, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) during qualifying for the Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Race. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Freddie Kraft set the record straight on Bubba Wallace‘s performance at Chicago and the beef with him and Alex Bowman. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft, who is Wallace’s spotter, shared his reaction to Wallace falling short of finishing in the top 10 on Sunday.

“Frustrating, for sure. I know we talked about the bracket challenge stuff because we were racing each other,” Kraft said about Wallace and Bowman battling late in the race. “I’m sure that played a little bit of a factor in it, but there’s more to it than that. Alex ruined our day there last year. They got into it after the race. We were going to have a top-10 run there last year, and Alex kind of dumped off of (Turn) 2, same spot actually.

“Once I saw how [Wallace] raced him into (Turn) 8, I was like, ‘Oh, this is probably going to get a little ugly.’ It’s just hard racing. I don’t think anybody had any ill will. I think we raced the hell out of him, and we came out looking like idiots at the end of the day because we ruined our own day by getting ourselves turned around there, costing ourselves a bunch of points. It was a lot on the line there.”

Freddie Kraft says Bubba Wallace was racing Alex Bowman ‘a little harder’

Kraft continued: “You are racing for the bracket challenge, which it’s a million dollars at the end of the day. But that’s also the guy we’re racing for the last playoff spot, or one of the last playoff spots. He’s the next guy in front of us in points. So you’re going to race him hard, and they’ve got history. He’s probably racing a little harder than he has other guys in the past. I thought it was kind of a losing battle, and I thought it was a bad time to pick that strategy because we were going to be beat. Alex had 26 lap better tires than we did, and we were hanging on. Ideally, you probably want to just take your lumps and finish in the top 15 and move on.”

Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman were battling in the top 10 in the final laps before Wallace was turned around. He finished 28th and is now two points above the playoff cut line. Wallace looks to bounce back when the NASCAR drivers compete at Sonoma this Sunday.