Just before Bubba Wallace could come across the finish line, Kyle Larson had his bumper in the back of him and spun him out. Now, with the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum it is hard to tell what is an accident, what is on purpose, and of course, what is retaliation.
This race was a lot of fun. There was movement throughout the field. Fast cars found their way to the front. Ryan Blaney made the podium after starting in the dead last as the provisional entry. If you had speed, you could move up.
Larson and Wallace were both able to move up the field and put themselves in strong positions tonight. It was that last turn that did Wallace in though.
You can see in this RFK Racing video below, Bubba Wallace is just ahead of Kyle Larson. Martin Truex Jr. is on the outside of Larson. The trio comes around the turn and around goes Wallace. This would ultimately take him from a top-10 position all the way down to P12. Larson finished P5.
Judging the success of this Busch Light Clash will be tough. We had the most green flag racing we’ve ever seen. There were fast laps. The 23-car field was a really good size for this event. But by moving the race up an entire day due to weather, the crowd and energy were just off.
Denny Hamlin won this race and put on a hell of a burnout for the fans. But the drama was what made it.
Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson. Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick. Even Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano got into it tonight. Let’s not forget Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were going at each other as well at one point. That’s the beauty of The Clash.
Bubba Wallace was strong until he wasn’t
I think that 23XI Racing should be happy with the Busch Light Clash. P12 for Wallace and P14 for Reddick are solid after the long and tough night. All of the drivers did well considering the short notice reschedule.
The entire Toyota camp would be more than happy with the performances tonight. Many wondered how this new Camry XSE would perform. Well, it performed! Hamlin won the pole. Gibbs was one of the best cars all day. Even Martin Truex Jr. had a good race.
The final results didn’t line up, but Toyota had a really strong day overall.
For Bubba Wallace, it was a struggle. He was pushed down in the field a couple of times. On restarts, Wallace did what he does best and made progress through the field.
In case you want to know how Wallace felt after the race, this is all you need to know.
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