Kyle Larson Declares Famous Martinsville Hot Dogs Kyle Larson (via Getty)

Bubba Wallace Breaks Silence on Kyle Larson Confrontation After Gateway Wreck

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Armaan Agarwal | Last updated Sep 8, 2025 2:47 AM ET

NASCAR Playoffs are full of action. Drivers push themselves to the limit in hopes of securing their spot in the next round. During Sunday’s race at Gateway, things escalated between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson, almost causing a wreck. Wallace has finally opened up on the incident.

Bubba Wallace was having a good run at Gateway. The 23XI Racing star even won Stage 2 of the race. However, his car seemingly got stuck in first gear. This almost led to a massive wreck involving Kyle Larson. After the race, Wallace was spotted having a conversation with Larson, perhaps explaining the reason behind the restart problem.

Following the race, Bubba Wallace pointed out that at the restart his car seemed just fine at first. The No. 23 driver asserted that he will go and take a look at the situation with the team to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Wallace recognized that he might’ve inflicted damage on Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet.

Nevertheless, the restart mishap didn’t destroy the run for both drivers. After two rounds in the Playoffs, Larson sits 60 points above the Round of 12 cutoff, with Wallace having 50 points more than the cutoff too. The two drivers have a decent chance to make their way into the next round.

I did it the restart before, and it was fine. I need to go back and study how to do it better, but hate it. I don’t know if it gave the five (Kyle Larson) damage, but they were solid cars.
Bubba Wallace told Kelly Crandall.

Bubba Wallace on it being surprising the car got stuck in gear as he was leading: pic.twitter.com/Y2j1EojvMa
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) September 7, 2025

Kyle Larson responds over Bubba Wallace Gateway incident

Bubba Wallace managed to avoid a major wreck during the race. But the Toyota driver still threw a spanner in the works for Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports. After the race, the No. 5 driver spoke his mind over the entire ordeal.

Larson insisted that he had a decent outing at World Wide Technology Raceway this time around, courtesy of a good car at the track. The HMS star pointed out that Bubba Wallace’s restart issue messed up his race strategy. Kyle Larson labeled it to be ‘unfortunate.’ The Chevy star could’ve made more progress if not for this incident.

It was a great race for us. We had a great, great car. Just a restart when the 23 (Wallace) wasn’t able to get going, I think it messed our strategy up and whatnot after that. That was unfortunate.
Kyle Larson said, as quoted by On3.

Certainly, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson wouldn’t be happy with the situation. Both drivers didn’t receive much damage to their title prospects, yet it’s not a good thing to deal with, especially during Playoffs. For Wallace, it is important to take a look at the incident with his team to ensure he doesn’t face such a problem again this season.

With two races done, eight rounds are left in the Playoffs. The Round of 12 will be decided after the next race when the bottom four are eliminated.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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