One day removed from controversy, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, spoke out about the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville.
The driver of the No. 23 posted his second straight DNF in Sunday’s Cook Out 400. Wallace tangled with Carson Hocevar with less than 80 laps to go, setting off a massive multi-car crash.
The 23XI Racing driver suffered massive damage to his race car and wound up 36th.
The wreck sparked criticism from fans, feeling as if Wallace’s move on Hocevar over the line. Wallace’s actions also triggered comments from retired NASCAR drivers and current analysts Kevin Harvick and Kyle Petty.
On the most recent episode of the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast, Kraft got the opportunity to weigh in on the incident involving his driver.
Freddie Kraft on the Wallace/Hocevar incident: ‘Hocevar did nothing wrong’
One lap before the multi-car incident, Hocevar made a three-wide move underneath Wallace heading into turn one.
Occupying the bottom line, Hocevar made slight contact with Wallace, who was in the middle. The driver of the No. 77 completed the pass, while Wallace was able to get behind him off the exit of turn two.
As they sailed off into turn three, Wallace got into the back of Hocevar multiple times, until eventually spinning the latter out on the exit of turn four.
The move made by Hocevar might have sent Wallace behind, but Kraft believes the Spire Motorsports driver did not make a poor choice.
“Hocevar did nothing wrong. He took us three wide into [turn] one and passed us clean. … If we’re going to contend for top 10 in points, top five in points, we have to clean that [expletive] up. … We will figure it out and we’ll be better next time we show up to the racetrack,” Kraft said via Dirty Mo Media.
Kraft is taking his driver for his word on what happened.
While it may have appeared different to some, Kraft said he has to trust Wallace when he said he “misjudged” the aggression towards Hocevar and that it was unintentional. Regardless, the incident hurt the No. 23 team in the Cup Series points standings.
“There’s not really any sugarcoating about it. I got to take Bubba for his word. He said he misjudged. If he misjudged, it was a really bad misjudgment. … It hurts. We went from third in points to now, I think we’re like tied for eighth with five other guys,” Kraft said.
Kraft on moving forward in 2026: ‘That [expletive] can’t happen’
Wallace started off the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season strong.
The 32-year-old started off the season with four finishes of 11th or better and sat second in the points standings. Now, with back-to-back DNFs at Darlington and Martinsville, Wallace finds himself 11th in the standings.
On “Door Bumper Clear,” Kraft said if they want to contend for a championship by season’s end, they cannot afford to have finishes like they had Sunday at Martinsville.
“If you want to be a contender for the championship or a contender to be top five, top seven, eight in points — whatever it is — that [expletive] can’t happen,” Kraft said.
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