Fists Fly During Bubba Wallace Fight, Driver Suspended, NASCAR Wife Gives A Shower Kiss & Nashville Wreckfest
As a fan of drama, tight racin', fights, bitching, moaning and WAGs, I gotta say – the past week has been solidddddd for NASCAR. Maybe the best of the year. Seriously.
We had Bubba Wallace getting into a fight with Aric Almirola. Aric Almirola! Didn't have that one on my Bingo card, but buddy, I am ALL IN on it. Ding, ding, ding!
As if that wasn't enough to get the engines revved on a Monday morning, I thought the Nashville automobile race that spanned like eight hours yesterday was maybe the best of the season. Better than Atlanta. Better than Darlington. It was that good.
What else? Oh, you thought Kyle Busch was finally gonna turn his miserable year around? THINK AGAIN, IDIOTS! We did end the night with a signature Rowdy bow, but it ain't what we had in mind. You'll see.
Anything else? Oh yeah! Denny Hamlin put out the hype video of the year, complete with his fiancée doing NASCAR WAG things from their motorcoach. No, not those NASCAR WAG things, you animals. But, I'll be honest, we weren't far from it.
Whew. See? Drama, WAGs, fights, good racing … what a week. I'm ready to run through a brick wall on this first Monday of July!
Four tires, whatever the hell Sunoco racing fuel Joey Logano was using last night, and maybe some boxing gloves for Bubba Wallace … Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘Cinco De NASCAR’ edition – is LIVE!
This Nashville finish was perfect
Five overtimes. Five! What you saw last night was a NASCAR record, for those wondering. I've seen plenty of Daytona races go two or three overtimes. But five? Nope.
As DW would say, never have I ever.
And you wanna know how I watched the finish(es)? From a booth at some restaurant called Fiddlers off of I-77 in Hillsville, Virginia. That's right. Does it get any more white trash than that? Don't think so.
But that's how good this race was, at least in my opinion (and this entire, award-winning column is my opinion, so that really is all that matters!).
We're on the way back to Florida, and stopped late last night in Hillsville. We rode into town on fumes and needed to eat, so Fiddlers it was. Wasn't exactly a Ruth's Chris, but whatever. It was a bad night to be at a buffet in Virginia.
Anyway, I turned the automobile race on my phone for the final few laps, and the damn ending lasted us the entire dinner. Wreck, wreck, wreck – it was awesome. I know some folks don't like when they wreck. They call it "artificial" or "bad racing."
Malarkey, as Sleepy Joe would say (even though you couldn't understand it). That's perfect racing.
And hey! What a damn night for Ford, too. Unreal marketing for them with Joey Logano somehow making that Mustang last 105 laps without fuel while everyone else was dropping like flies.
Good for Ford – that company needs some recognition! Good night for the little guys!
Kyle Busch had another great race!
Thank GOD I wasn't back in Florida, because I would've lost my house betting on Logano to run out of fuel. How the hell did he do it? And on two tires, no less.
Did you know that was Joey's first win since Atlanta … of LAST spring? My God. For a guy who will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and a two-time champ, I didn't realize how badly his season was going. I knew he was in trouble, but didn't realize it was this dire.
Maybe that's because Kyle Busch continues to run away with the Most Miserable Season in the History of Seasons award. Frankly, at this point, it ain't even kind of close.
It's gotten so bad that we have a running tally of just how bad Kyle's last few months have gone. I just copy and paste it each week. Watch:
In the last seven races, Kyle Busch has finished: 27, 15, 35, 12, 35, 35, 37.
Our man has finished outside the top-20 ten times this season. Ten! He's been punched in the face more times than he's won!
And last night, for a second, I thought he may just win the damn race. But then, of course, Kyle Larson ran out of gas, Rowdy decked him in the ass, and then Chase Elliott followed suit:
Chin up, Tiny Ty!
Just a brutal year for Kyle Busch. He was actually wrecked twice yesterday – BOTH IN OVERTIME – and he somehow got his spot back after this one, which had everyone on NASCAR Twitter confused and up in arms:
NASCAR just … put Kyle back to fourth after getting spun into next week. I loved it, mainly because it gave Rowdy a chance to win/lose in miserable fashion, which meant #content for us either way. Was it fair? No clue. No idea why they did that, or what the actual ruling is/was.
They did something similar with Chase Elliott earlier in the race after he spun on his own, so maybe it is the rule. I dunno. Don't care, frankly. I just figured NASCAR was throwing Kyle a bone, sort of like charity. And I respected the hell out of it.
From one miserable driver to another … let's check in on Tyler Reddick after nearly passing Joseph Logano on that final lap:
Bubba Wallace talk about fight, NASCAR suspension
Geez, Tyler. It's gonna be OK, I promise. The sun will come up (hey, it did!), and you will win another race. Trust me, you're gonna be fine, sport. Chin up!
Now, before we end the day with our usual shenanigans, let's quickly address these Bubba Wallace-Aric Almirola fight rumors …
I'm all in. 100% all in. From last week.
OutKick fan favorite Bubba Wallace, and a driver that you vaguely remember but probably haven't thought about in years – Aric Almirola – are currently making the newsy rounds for a reported "physical altercation" that took place recently that apparently got Almirola a one-way ticket to suspension-ville (what a dumb thing to say but whatever).
According to The Athletic, a physical altercation between Almirola and Bubba Wallace is the reason why Joe Gibbs Racing removed Almirola as driver of its No. 20 car for the May 25 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then subsequently indefinitely suspended him, multiple industry sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic.
The altercation occurred early in the week leading into the Charlotte race during a weekly competition meeting that includes both the drivers of JGR and 23XI Racing — Toyota supports both teams, and they have a close technical alliance.
The exact reason for the dispute is unknown, but those sources said the team viewed Almirola as the instigator.
Oh hell yes, let's get weird. Bubba vs. Aric, who ya got? For those who don't quite remember – Lord knows I didn't – these two ain't exactly friends. From last season:
Obviously, that was just the beginning – depending on who you believe. JGR hasn't addressed any of this – they probably won't – and neither has NASCAR – they definitely won't, because it's a team issue. So, we may never know exactly what happened between these two lovebirds earlier this season.
But, of course, you can listen to Bubba and draw a conclusion or two for yourself:
Dancing Denny, NASCAR WAGs and Larson retaliates (sort of)
They don't want me to get into the details, keep some people's images good.
Love it. Nothing like some solid pettiness to start the week. Bubba Wallace never fails to deliver that, baby!
Fine. Do you think Bubba instigated this fight, or was it the other way around? Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.
Couple quickies (hey now!) on the way out. First up? This Denny Hamlin/Kyle Larson rivalry continues to evolve ever so slightly …
It's cold for now, but things are definitely starting to heat up over the past few weeks. I think – hope – we're getting close to some real action happening. I'm not sure it's ever gonna come to blows, mainly because that's just not Kyle Larson's game, but I can smell it. Something's a-brewin. Stay tuned.
Denny, by the way, is WORRIED about it:
Welcome to the show, Jordan Fish! It's been a damn minute since we had you around here on a Monday, but you're back with a BANG. Excellent way to start July. Let's keep this momentum pointed north, baby!
Speaking of bathrooms (sort of), here's one fella who nearly shit his pants yesterday:
NASCAR WAG McCall Gaulding takes us to Chicago
Whoaaaaaaaaaaa Nellie! Close call. Heads on swivels, fellas. All of you.
OK, that's all for today. Zane Smith somehow finished second yesterday, which gives us an excellent chance to check in on OutKick fan favorite McCall Gaulding.
What a way to end the day.
See you in Chicago.
