Kyle Larson matters even when he does not. On Sunday at the Darlington Raceway, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was the most significant piece of the puzzle. He spun out in Turn 2, just four laps into the race, and went to the pits. He was a whopping 160 laps down when he returned to the track. One would think he had no business with Victory Lane after that. Well, think again.
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Drama ensued when four laps were remaining in the race. Just as Ryan Blaney overtook Tyler Reddick for the lead, Larson was spun by Bubba Wallace right behind them. The No. 5 driver slid down the track and brought out the yellow flag. Overtime followed, and ultimately, Denny Hamlin went home with the spoils.
The dynamic of this sequence changes under the light that Wallace and Reddick are teammates. Shallow suspicions have made this an easy dot to connect with accusations of race manipulation by 23XI Racing. However, loads of fans on social media have jumped to Wallace’s defense against these claims and resolved him.
Analytics and radio messages have confirmed the fact that Larson braked too hard entering Turn 2. Wallace, who was coming up behind him, had not expected him to slow down that much. He had no choice but to make contact. Auto Racing Analytics reiterated this with the help of data on X.
For those saying Bubba Wallace intentionally wrecked Kyle Larson. Data shows that Larson hit the brakes right before contact with Wallace. The previous lap Larson didn’t use brake there. Blue is current lap, yellow is previous pic.twitter.com/8ZeMYFwct4
— Auto Racing Analytics (@AR_Analytics) April 6, 2025
One fan responded, “I’m no Wallace fan. But it was just an accident. Larson checked up I was expecting a broke tow like as well. Wallace can’t see through his car. Sucks but it happened nothing intentional.” Even Larson agreed that the fault was his and not Wallace’s. He said on his team radio, “I was checking up. So, that’s embarrassing.”
A case barely has to be made after this. However, one fan added, “People need to get over about it being “on purpose”. Data doesn’t lie. If anything, Larson shouldn’t have checked up that hard.” Some believe that haters are just throwing dirt on Wallace since he has been running extraordinarily well this season. That would make sense as well.
A comment said, “It’s just a racing deal with a car getting into the wall ahead. No one is really at fault.” At the end of the day, after his early spin, Larson shouldn’t have influenced the outcome this heavily. A fan pointed out this and wrote, “Larson shouldn’t even have been on the track. Not on Bubba. Larson knew what he was doing though.”
While fans did not think Wallace made a mistake, Blaney did. He was in for a certain win until the yellow flag was thrown. After reaching the pit road, 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan was found speaking to him. “Almost,” the NBA legend told him. Blaney responded, “Hey, if your boy didn’t spin out Larson, it would be.”
Against all the chaos and the heat of the moment, Jordan made sure he had his boy’s back before walking away from Blaney. He said, “Did he spin out Larson? I couldn’t tell.” The conversation added a bunch of drama to an already dramatic day with the Lady in Black.
