With Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar being among the four drivers called up to the NASCAR hauler recently, Bubba Wallace has reflected on a previous incident. 

Speaking to Frontstretch, the 23XI driver recalled a run-in he had with Kyle Busch at the 2019 Watkins Glen race, after which the two were also called in for a meeting in the Hauler to reinforce NASCAR's expectations for driver conduct. Wallace described the meeting as ‘interesting’ and noted that it makes him miss Kyle Busch.

“Me and Kyle Busch had one after Watkins Glen, 2019. Yeah, that one was interesting. I actually miss Kyle. The conversation we had, he told me the Mark Martin rule. It's like, ‘Dude, I hit you three times, and after that, you chopped my nose,’ and I always told him, ‘Man, once you get up to my door, you can have it.’ But if you're just looking the whole time, you're not there," he said.

"And so we both disagreed, agreed to disagree. And I remember, he was like, ‘Dude, why didn't you just come up and talk to me after the race?’ I said that wouldn't have been good for either of us. And he just looked at me like, okay, typical Kyle. But yeah, me and KB had a meeting, and it was sweet.”

Wallace’s comments, as tweeted by Frontstretch, come shortly after the NASCAR Hauler held meetings with Shane Van Gisbergen, Austin Hill, Zane Smith, and Carson Hocevar over recent on-track incidents and disputes. 

On the Hauler Talk podcast, Mike Forde also clarified that while Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith had been called up for a meeting, NASCAR will follow a similar approach from the SVG-Hill case and not penalize Hocevar or Smith. 

Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi call for more rivalries

On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi called for more rivalries in NASCAR. They feel that for many years, NASCAR drivers have consciously avoided any controversy due to the fear of upsetting sponsors or team management, choosing to give carefully rehearsed statements instead. 

However, with younger drivers appearing far more comfortable engaging in rivalries, social media exchanges, and public disagreements,  they believe that the trend is finally beginning to reverse, citing the examples of Ty Gibbs, Hocevar, later also adding Wallace and Denny Hamlin among others. 

Gluck said, “He (Gibbs) was talking about Supercross with Haiden Deegan and stuff, and he's like, ‘Yeah, sometimes you got to play into it a little bit,’ and I think that's what Carson does. He plays into it. I mean, it's fun. It can be fun. It doesn't always have to be like, ‘Let's all run from this. Let's all, oh, we can't have this controversy.’

Read more at RFK Racing Digest! 

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason