Sports

Denny Hamlin Explains Middle Finger Etiquette In NASCAR After Tense Moment With Bubba Wallace

#NASCAR
by
NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace

© Jim Dedmon/Imagn


Late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, it appeared that 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was set to win his second race of the 2025 season and, in doing so, reach the third round of the playoffs for the first time in his career.

However, Wallace’s hopes of a race win disappeared in the final turn when he was taken out by fellow driver and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin, who himself was then passed by Chase Elliott for the victory.

Immediately after the race, Wallace came over the radio and told his team that Hamlin was a “f—ing d—-e” and later passed Hamlin on the back stretch, giving him the middle finger in the process.

Denny Hamlin Didn’t Mind Bubba Wallace Giving Him The Finger

Now, if any one of us gave our bosses the middle finger and used the same words to describe them, we’d likely be out of a job. Hamlin, however, took no issue with what Wallace said and did.

In fact, he said that he likely would’ve done the same if he were in a similar position. However, there is one very important caveat.

“If he were to flip me off in 23XI (facilities), as the car owner, we’d have employer-employee problems,” Hamlin said on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. “But as a competitor, he’s flipping off the driver of the 11. I don’t have an issue with that.

“I think you can motherf— the driver of the 11 because you’re upset that the finish didn’t go as you hoped. But anything directed at me as the owner, I would certainly, certainly have exception to that. Because as an owner, I know the tremendous resources that myself and (co-owner) Michael (Jordan) give Bubba every single week to go out there and compete.”

Hamlin’s explanation makes complete sense. But it also puts both he and Wallace in a difficult spot. Had Wallace won the race, he’d have locked himself in the next round of the playoffs.

Now he enters the final race of the second round more or less needing a victory in Charlotte to advance, while Hamlin is all but a shoe-in to advance on points and would’ve been in a pretty good spot even if Wallace had one.

Obviously, you want to see every driver out there racing as hard as they can. But it’s definitely fair to wonder if Hamlin could’ve used more discretion in the way he raced Wallace.