Dale Earnhardt Jr. defends Bubba Wallace in Kyle Larson controversy at Darlington

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to Bubba Wallace‘s defense over his role in the caution with four laps to go in this past Sunday’s race at Darlington. Wallace made contact with Kyle Larson while exiting Turn 2, bringing out the final caution and sending the race to overtime.

Some questioned if Wallace spun Larson out on purpose, but Earnhardt didn’t see it that way. Speaking on the “Dale Jr. Download,” said Larson “powered down so hard” in response to Tyler Reddick getting into the wall in front of him, that it left Wallace with nowhere to go.

“Bubba spins Larson and you can see clearly as they’re exiting Turn 2, Larson just kind of powers down,” Earnhardt said. “I wonder why he did that? … I know [Reddick got into the wall], but that was so far in front of him. … I’m watching it and I’m like, ‘He’s a long ways back. I wonder why he powered down so hard.’ He just — middle of 1 and 2 kind of went by Bubba, so he knows Bubba is right on his right rear full steam. That was surprising. Everybody was like, ‘Oh, Bubba did it on purpose.’ But he did not.”

Bubba Wallace speaks out about role in late Kyle Larson wreck at Darlington

One thing is certain: Larson’s second spin of the day helped change the outcome of the race. Just before, Ryan Blaney had successfully chased down Reddick to take the lead. Blaney had the win in sight. But that caution meant the race would be decided off one final overtime restart and before that, one final stop down pit road. Blaney’s team struggled all afternoon down pit road and this time was no different. He came off fourth behind Denny Hamlin, Reddick and William Byron.

Hamlin’s pit crew was on it, and he took advantage. He had the perfect restart and took the checkered flag two laps later. Blaney was left wondering what could have been — if Wallace, his best friend in the garage, hadn’t made contact with Larson.

Wallace spoke with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic after the race, saying that Larson checked up more than he anticipated after Reddick got into the wall slightly down the backstretch. He apologized for ruining Blaney’s day and also whispered something into his ear on pit road. Blaney declined to reveal what Wallace told him.

Both Wallace and Larson were among the favorites coming into the race. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for either of them. Larson spun on his own on Lap 4 and spent a large chunk of the race in the garage getting repairs. Wallace was competitive early on but fell back in Stage 3. He finished P21, Larson 37th.