Bubba Wallace has had a 'somber week' after heartbreaking Kansas loss

NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace could be in a much different position had the final corner of the Sept. 28 race at Kansas Speedway gone differently. 

Contact with Denny Hamlin — a fellow playoff driver and co-owner of 23XI Racing, which Wallace races for — in turns 3 and 4 on the final lap of the Hollywood Casino led to Chase Elliott winning the race and Wallace now faces an uphill battle to advance to the penultimate round of the Cup Series playoffs. 

The incident was undoubtedly frustrating for both drivers, who have to pick up the pieces and turn their attention to Sunday's race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. 

There is a big difference between the situation for Wallace and Hamlin, however: going into Sunday's Round of 12 elimination race, Hamlin is 48 points above the playoff cut line. Wallace is 26 points below it, necessitating one of the best road course drives of his career on Sunday.  

"It was definitely a somber week for sure," Wallace said during a news conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. "I hate that it got to this point, the lingering effect. Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago. It was a good, heart-to-heart conversation, came from a place of peace. [It] went better than I thought it would. 

"He shared his side of things, and I shared mine, and we had common ground." 

Wallace and Hamlin were 27th and 30th-fastest in Cup Series practice at CMS on Saturday, respectively.