Bubba Wallace is without a doubt one of the most divisive racecar drivers in NASCAR today. Anything he does or says or doesn’t do or doesn’t say somehow attracts a constant stream of criticism towards his way.

But there are times when things change, times when even Wallace, who was termed ‘Crybaby’ after his “need to be replaced” appeal, gets the sympathy of the fans.

This was also the case in Martinsville recently.

Fans defend Bubba Wallace after his incident with Denny Hamlin in Martinsville

At one point in the race, Wallace seemed to put his bumper to his boss Denny Hamlin‘s #11 before diving down on the inside and pushing him up some more. As the veteran pulled away, the #23 driver didn’t seem to stop.

He put his bumper back to the #11’s back bumper again. “I’ve never seen somebody do that to the boss before,” a voice from the broadcasting booth claimed.

And sure enough, this isn’t something one sees a lot, and this is certainly something for which Wallace could’ve got a lot of flak and criticism from his doubters and Hamlin fans.

But the opposite turned out to be the case because, as it turns out, it was Hamlin who punted Wallace first. Wallace was simply doing what was done to him.

And this wasn’t lost on the fans either.

“now show why it started. Denny punted Bubba first”

“I thought it was maybe a little much since 11 is leading and 23 is lap down, BUT 11 punted him first and they are competitors on the track, not boss and employee.”

“There is a part thats not being shown Boss Man drove through him!”

“Was at the track and saw this, Hamlin was cooking into the corner and slammed bubba off the bottom, bubba was just paying him back.”

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Wallace reflects on his 2023 season as the midpoint nears

After he secured a top 10 finish in Martinsville, Wallace was asked in a post-race interview how he feels about where he and his team are at this point of the season. “We’re firing on all cylinders. Maybe misfiring here and there,” he replied.

“I’ve tried to step up and be a leader in the last 3 weeks, finishing races, not crashing out.”

Wallace claimed they have “a massive hole to climb out of,” but he would rather do it with #23 team and 23XI than with anyone else. “We’re hungry, we’re ready, we got Talladega coming up, Kansas is coming up, a lot of good tracks coming up for us,” he continued.

“So just have to keep out heads down, keep digging.”

Also Read: Experienced Kyle Busch Warns Chase Elliott About the Nightmarish Challenges Ahead, Having Suffered Career-Defining Injury Himself