Bubba Wallace is the NASCAR driver who irked many on the right with his political comments and actions during 2020, particularly his support for Black Lives Matter. He also has been involved in a number of controversies in the sport over the past few years, such as an attempted fight.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s back in the news for how he behaved toward his friend, Ryan Blaney. Blaney won the NASCAR championship in Arizona a month ago but Wallace, instead of celebrating with him, flew directly home and wallowed in his disappointment.<\/p>\n
Wallace wrote a post on his friend\u2019s victory and why he flew home in silence rather than celebrating with him, saying, \u201cSitting here on the couch questioning everything. You would think your bud winning the championship would bring that joy and excitement back. Sadly it did not<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing, Wallace wrote,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s the helpless feeling that really kicks ya. My wife can see that I\u2019m off but I don\u2019t have the what or the why that I\u2019m feeling this way to allow her to help me. To my peeps out there staring at a blank wall, I\u2019m with you. Tomorrow is another day. Another opportunity. Keep after it.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Blaney spoke on Thursday about the matter and what Bubba told him after the post, saying, \u201cHe called me a couple days later and I was like, \u201cMan, I guess you winning the championship sent me into depression. Like congrats, but I don\u2019t want to see that.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing, Blaney said,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s just kind of how Bubba is, you know he\u2019s very hard on himself. He is just super hard on himself and you try to pick him up, right? The other night I told him \u2018Man, you did great. Tenth in points, you made a good run in the playoffs.\u2019 OK, he didn\u2019t win, but I mean, he had a great year.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Blaney then indirectly noted that he could tell Bubba, his friend, was jealous of his success, saying,\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s seeing a friend do it, and it\u2019s other part of seeing another young guy around your age. When Chase won the championship in 2020, he and I are really great friends, I was super happy for him. But I was also kind of jealous because I want to be that guy. I want to be in that spot.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Continuing with that point, Blaney said, \u201cYou always kind of compare yourself to your age range. You get jealous of the guys in your group that have success. And I\u2019m the same way. I think everyone is internally, whether they express it or not.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin, co-owner of the NASCAR team Bubba is on, noted that Bubba has stabilized somewhat from his antics, saying,\u00a0\u201cWhere he was in 2022 was a lot tougher to manage because you were doing a lot of damage control. Maybe some things he\u2019d say in the media, we\u2019d have to do some work on the backend to make it right. Michael really helped in stepping in and voicing his opinion on it, and making Bubba step up as a leader<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n