Talladega Notes: Wallace says his 2021 Cup Series win at Talladega still brings out negativity on social platforms.
The Talladega NASCAR weekend marked Bubba Wallace’s first trip pack to the track that give him his breakthrough victory at the track in October 2021.
Wallace’s win, the first by a Black driver since 1963, drew quick criticism from fans who complained about the race being shortened by rain, some suggesting that NASCAR wanted Wallace to win for the publicity gains.
Wallace pointed out that many drivers have won races shortened by weather over the years.
“There’s been plenty of instances where those have happened, and teams have capitalized on it,” he said. “The people that aren’t fans of yours and are just going to continue to carry that to the grave that it was rigged, or we only won because it rained. All of the 40 drivers in the field knew it was going to rain. Why didn’t they win?”
Wallace said he continues to see negative comments on social media. “You can’t spend too much time on there and feed into that, although I do go back and read the comments,” he said. “Every post that I click on there—I just go back and read the comments because it’s like ugh, no, still dumbasses today.”
Kyle Busch doesn’t sound like a driver worrying about his next contract.
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Kyle Busch Still Unsigned
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch remains unsigned for next season, a situation that has been complicated by the scheduled departure at the end of this year by long-time team sponsor M&Ms.
Asked if he was concerned that his future remains unclear, Busch said he isn’t getting “antsy about it. If it happens, it happens. If it don’t, it don’t. Goodbye.”
Asked if leaving the team was an option, Busch said, “Ask Joe Gibbs.”
Gibbs said he expects talks between Busch, 39, and the team will result in the veteran driver continuing to race for JGR.
William Byron, left, and Jeff Gordon
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Jeff Gordon, NASCAR Consultant
Jeff Gordon stays pretty busy as vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, but team driver William Byron says the former Cup champion remains active as a consultant to drivers.
“I try to get advice from him that’s going to pay off,” Byron said. “He’s pretty direct with his advice, and he’s good with the crew chiefs, too. … I’m very confident in the feels that I have at tracks I have run well, but there’s a few tracks that I haven’t run as well where maybe Jeff can have good advice for the crew chief, as well.”
Up Next
The NASCAR Cup tour rolls on to Dover, Del. next weekend. In last year’s race at Dover, Hendrick Motorsports swept the first four positions, with Alex Bowman leading Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron to the finish.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – 53rd Annual GEICO 500
Talladega Superspeedway
Sunday, April 24, 2022
1. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 188.
2. (14) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
3. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 188.
4. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 188.
5. (2) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 188.
6. (16) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 188.
7. (28) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188.
8. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 188.
9. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188.
10. (24) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 188.
11. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 188.
12. (11) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 188.
13. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 188.
14. (33) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 188.
15. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, 188.
16. (6) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 188.
17. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 188.
18. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188.
19. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 188.
20. (31) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 188.
21. (18) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 188.
22. (1) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 187.
23. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 187.
24. (36) David Ragan, Ford, 186.
25. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 185.
26. (37) BJ McLeod, Ford, 172.
27. (32) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 121.
28. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, DVP, 105.
29. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, Engine, 98.
30. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 95.
31. (4) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, DVP, 92.
32. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 89.
33. (20) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 89.
34. (25) Harrison Burton #, Ford, Accident, 89.
35. (35) Greg Biffle, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 79.
36. (3) Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 56.
37. (17) Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 56.
38. (30) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 56.
39. (10) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Engine, 31.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 148.637 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.105 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.
Lead Changes: 41 among 16 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Bell 1;D. Suarez 2-3;C. Bell 4-9;D. Suarez 10-35;C. Custer 36;J. Logano 37;K. Larson 38-50;B. Wallace 51;K. Larson 52;B. Wallace 53;K. Larson 54;B. Wallace 55-60;B. McLeod 61;K. Larson 62-64;E. Jones 65;K. Larson 66;E. Jones 67;K. Larson 68-69;E. Jones 70-73;B. Wallace 74;E. Jones 75-82;B. McLeod 83;W. Byron 84-121;*. Yeley(i) 122;E. Jones 123-124;K. Busch 125;E. Jones 126;K. Busch 127-128;R. Blaney 129-151;B. Wallace 152;E. Jones 153-154;B. Wallace 155-159;C. LaJoie 160;K. Busch 161;D. Hamlin 162-170;K. Larson 171-176;E. Jones 177;K. Larson 178-181;E. Jones 182-183;K. Larson 184;E. Jones 185-187;R. Chastain 188.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): William Byron 1 time for 38 laps; Kyle Larson 9 times for 32 laps; Daniel Suarez 2 times for 28 laps; Erik Jones 10 times for 25 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 23 laps; Bubba Wallace 6 times for 15 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 9 laps; Christopher Bell 2 times for 7 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 3 laps; BJ McLeod 2 times for 2 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap; * JJ Yeley(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 1 lap; Ross Chastain 1 time for 1 lap; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; Cole Custer 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 23,5,20,24,19,9,45,43,48,47
Stage #2 Top Ten: 24,9,5,19,48,18,10,43,1,45
Keyword: At Site of First NASCAR Win, Bubba Wallace Still Finds 'Dumbasses' on Social Media