NASCAR Fans Divided After Reported Bubba Wallace Silent Treatment in Nashville
Follow Us
At the Nashville Superspeedway, Bubba Wallace was in fine form, but a pit stop blunder proved to be a massive setback. Naturally, the driver was fuming and even lashed out on the team radio. Later on, a still steaming Wallace insisted that the team not talk to him for a while. A while later, crew chief Bootie Barker asked him on the radio to report on the car’s handling. However, the driver was strangely silent and refused to say a word even when Barker praised him for mounting a comeback.
Now, this prompted a mixed response from fans. Some believe that Wallace is not a team player and his woes were hardly Barker’s fault. As it turned out, The #23 driver became the latest victim of the loose wheel curse that has plagued many other drivers. A few fans even suggested that Bootie Barker should exact some petty revenge just to get Wallace to resume communications.
Used to like him, but he is meh now. Dude thinks to highly, and it’s why his team probably makes mistakes and has issues. He isn’t a good team player. Get a guy like Kurt and they were completely shit and now they are contenders cause Kurt never gave up.
— Muscan/ Alexandra Raptopoulou sorry. (@__muscan__) June 27, 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Yea because the loose wheels are all Bootie’s fault. Come on…
— Josh (@j_douglas9) June 27, 2022
Barker needs to make bubbas car handle like complete crap, so he spins out and hits the wall. Then barker can be like, “you going to talk to me now?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
— LaneMorgans (@lane_morgan5) June 27, 2022
That's pretty immature. Not the way to endear yourself to your team so they want to give their all for you.
Work through it and get what spots you can back.
Then back to the shop to find a solution to the issues they are having, together. Win & lose as a team.— Learn To Evolve (@LearnToEvolve) June 27, 2022
He’s been the good guy for months. Something has gotta change. This attitude Bubba is showing is long past due.
— Casey Dean (@Cdean0508) June 27, 2022
This is how you loose fans
— Ryan Agar (@1969Cuda48) June 27, 2022
The general attitude from the naysayers was that Bubba Wallace was acting immature. Especially since the team has been working hard to be competitive. What he really needed to do was not play the blame game, but sit with his crew and work out a solution. In essence, the driver had a poor attitude and it could potentially lose him some fans.
“Leave Me the F*** Alone” – Bubba Wallace Lashes Out at His NASCAR Crew Chief in Nashville
via Getty
FONTANA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Wheaties Toyota, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2022 in Fontana, California. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Bubba Wallace did get some supporters backing him
Many suggested that the driver was quite emotional and frustrated after the bungled pit stop. In the heat of the moment, anything can happen and Wallace was doing the best that he could on the race track. Others hoped that the weather delay would have helped Wallace calm down a little bit. This was because, if the race resumed, he could finish the race with a cool head and salvage something.
I mean. He did tell him to stop talking to him.
You can’t blame Bubba. He’s doing everything he can.— Justin Boyles (@Jboyles_12) June 27, 2022
Hopefully the weather delay helped calm things down. Hopefully they can run the full distance and get the 23 a finish it deserves.
— Jimmy Zajac (@SlimJimJZ) June 27, 2022
I don't blame Bubba but if I was the crew chief I'd take my equipment off and leave the pit box for the rest of the day.
— Not Telling You (@Noneyafnbiz123) June 27, 2022
finally Bubba puts together a good race, and the team blows it, silence is golden
— Rowdy Dragon (@TheRowdyDragon) June 27, 2022
The entire crew needs to go. Every week they have hindered him. Receipts are there.
— Paul Shaw (@PaulShaw383) June 27, 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
I would laugh and laugh and laugh if this motivated Bubba to come back and win, giving his team the silent treatment the whole time.
— Pete Stein 🇺🇲 🇺🇦 (@pogopete) June 27, 2022
Finally, a number of fans were mad at the pit crew for the repeated pit stop mishits. A few demanded that the entire pit crew be replaced for future races. Though if we’re being honest, such a stunt could backfire if the backup crew is somehow worse than their predecessors.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
At the end of the day, all that Wallace can do is rue what could have been and move on to the next race.
WATCH STORY: How Bubba Wallace’s Manager Confronted Him After His Daytona 500 Meltdown
Written by:
Edited by:
Ankit Sharma