Following the conclusion of the Watkins Glen Cup race on Sunday, Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell were seen having a discussion on pit road. Several theories about their exchange were floated online, claiming it was a heated disagreement about on-track events.

Sharing the same sentiment, renowned NASCAR journalist Steven Taranto wrote on X, "Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell had an animated discussion after the race. Looked like Bubba wasn't happy about something. Not sure what."

Besides this, Taranto also uploaded a couple of videos from the race, which showed Wallace and Bell having a dicey moment with eight laps to go in the race. However, Freddie Kraft, Bubba Wallace's spotter, was quick to dismiss the theory and replied, "You shouldn’t speculate. Bubba wasn’t mad at Bell."

In the video shared by Taranto, Bell and Wallace had a battle on the track, where the former got a run on the latter between Turns 10 and 11. However, it didn't disrupt the 23XI Racing driver's run, as he was able to pit safely, albeit after two more drivers on Bell's Tail passed him.

In the end, Bubba Wallace finished the race in 29th place, while Christopher Bell came home in 21st. Road course maestro Shane van Gisbergen claimed the victory ahead of Michael McDowell, with Ty Gibbs rounding out the podium.

"The mood's just down": How Bubba Wallace debriefs after bad races

Drivers having bad races are not rare in any racing category. When they have a good one, the post-race debrief looks dreamy, but it's the opposite after tough and underwhelming performances, like Bubba Wallace at Watkins Glen.

In an interview in late April with the New York Times in late April, the 23XI Racing driver opened up about how it feels to be in a debrief room after a hard race.

"Oh, it sucks," said Wallace. "You go to Martinsville, you make a bonehead move (when he wrecked Carson Hocevar and himself out of anger), you set the team back, you set yourself back, and no one’s happy. The mood’s just down."

"Especially when none of our cars run well in that race. It’s not fun, but you still try to be as productive as you can. The overall feeling — it’s almost like you can cut the tension with a knife. But it’s not tension between each other, it’s just the atmosphere," he further added.

Bubba Wallace is 10th in the standings with 313 points after 12 races. He has a top five and six top tens to his name. Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott occupy the top three in the Drivers' Standings.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yask Kotak