Bubba Wallace finished P12 despite not crossing finish line after Kyle Larson spin

At the end of the Busch Light Clash, Bubba Wallace was spun around by a bump from Kyle Larson, and he didn’t finish the race. Wallace opted to just drive his car forward, off the track, and into the tunnel. Still, NASCAR awarded him with P12 in the race.

While fans watching on TV didn’t see it happen, video has since come out showing the last lap incident. Larson got up behind Wallace, and Alex Bowman looks to have helped. At any rate, the 23 car went around.

Check it out for yourself in the video below.

Found the last lap filmed from a camera that can see the entire track including the @BubbaWallace spin n' dip pic.twitter.com/QxvTYLtY3L

— Ryan Pistana (@ryanpistana) February 4, 2024

The thing is, Bubba Wallace, didn’t try and hide it. He tweeted about the P12 “finish” after the race was over.

“But how I finish 12th and I ain’t even finish the race,” Wallace tweeted with a couple of skull emojis. “Got spun and just went up the tunnel.”

Bonus points for the Stephen A gif, too.

But how I finish 12th and I ain’t even finish the race. 💀💀 got spun and just went up the tunnel. pic.twitter.com/6bsUP3OpfL

— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) February 4, 2024

Now look, this race wasn’t or points. It wasn’t for much anything if you weren’t the winner or the top-3 drivers, who all are given a medal like in the Olympic Games. To his credit, Wallace was able to work his way from 19th place to 5th before that incident happened.

Bubba Wallace doesn’t get a lot of credit for his short-track racing, but the Coliseum track has been compared to Martinsville by multiple drivers. Wallace likes Martinsville, where he has won in the Truck Series before. So, it makes sense he would perform well here, too.

Bubba Wallace gets the boot from Kyle Larson

Now, there is a reason this Wallace and Larson incident occurred. Let’s not act like it came out of nowhere at the end of a 150-lap race around a bullring. Of course, there is the history the two drivers have with one another, and it isn’t good.

However, if you ask Larson, last night Wallace earned his retaliation. The two drivers were in the mix for the top-5 for much of the race and that meant they were right next to each other multiple times.

Larson had reached his limit with the contact Bubba was making.

“I haven’t seen any replays from the last restart, but he got me again and then got me again in the next corner,” Larson explained after the race. Then he gave his side of things. “I think at that point that was three times to my none, so I wanted to get him back before the checkered. I wasn’t trying to spin him out or anything; I was just trying to shove him through the corner like he was doing to me, and he ended up going around.

“Product of this racing and finally reaching my limit, I guess, but yeah, just how it goes.”

So, the third year of The Clash at the Coliseum and it is creating controversy as it did the last two years. Drivers get mad at this track. Close quarters, lots of bumping, and not a lot of give but a ton of take.