During the closing stages of the Cup Series race in Fontana, defending champion Kyle Larson, oblivious to the charging driver behind him, closed the gap on his right. This meant the driver behind him scraped the wall, and naturally, blasted the Hendrick driver on the radio. Interestingly, in this instance, the other driver was Larson’s own teammate, Chase Elliott.

However, even more interesting than that was what followed a few moments later.

Elliott, who went down the field from third place, spun his car out of nowhere in the middle of the field as he continued his radio rant. This brought out a caution, slightly hampering leader Larson’s bid to win.

This led to many people wondering whether the 2020 champion spun on purpose to vent out his frustration and anger; others believed it was a genuine problem.

Suffice to say, Freddie Kraft, the spotter of Bubba Wallace, falls into the former category.

On a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kraft explained why he thinks the No.9 spun without any external reason. “I think the gloves tell the story. You watch the video, his hand (is) at 12’o clock jacked off the corner,” he said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that it was intentional just based off those comments where he says, he puts in there, ‘I don’t give a s**t who is leading.'”

Hendrick GM dismisses the notion of Chase Elliott deliberately spinning

Jeff Andrews, the General Manager of Hendrick Motorsports, addressed the same question after the race. And he was quick to put the theories of Elliott spinning on purpose to bed with a simple explanation.

“I don’t believe he was taking out any frustration,” Andrews said. “He came on there pretty quickly after the contact with the wall, and it was a very similar issue that had happened to them early in the day with the bent toe link, and that puts a bunch of toe out in that right rear tire and rear assembly and that makes it very difficult to drive.”

“They were trying to stay out and finish as well as they could and had the issue late in the race there, had to come in and put a toe link on it.”

Also Read: Here’s How NASCAR Fans Can Get Their Hands on Official Chase Elliott Machinery From the Infamous Playoff Race at Hendrick Motorsports Shop