By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Bubba Wallace tries to shake hangover from Kansas disappointment

CONCORD, N.C.—The emotional residue from last Sunday’s last-lap conflict between Bubba Wallace and his team owner/fellow driver Denny Hamlin haunted Wallace throughout the week leading up to Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Bubba Wallace. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

In fact, Wallace and Hamlin tried to clear the around noon on Saturday in what Wallace characterized as a “good heart-to-heart conversation that came from a place of peace.”

Wallace and Hamlin were battling for the lead on the final lap of overtime at Kansas, when Hamlin ran Wallace into the outside wall in the final corner. The cars of both drivers lost momentum, and Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott powered to the inside of Hamlin’s Toyota to win the race, as Wallace fell to fifth.

“It was definitely a somber week, for sure,” said Wallace, who drives the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, which Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. “I hate it got to this point, the lingering effect, but Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago…

“It went better than I thought it would. He shared his side of things, and I shared mine, and we had common ground.”

Wallace surprised Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, with one aspect of his point of view.

“Just so you know,” Wallace said he told Hamlin, “I’m not mad about getting fenced going for the win.

“I don’t fault Denny Hamlin for racing for a win, for racing for his team and his sponsors,” Wallace added. “I get the question a lot, ‘What’s it like racing Denny on the race track?’ No offense to them, but I could give two (expletive), because he’s a competitor, and he’s labeled it that way.

“So that was two competitors going for a win, and as much as it didn’t work out, I have to respect that … My biggest thing is that Toyota didn’t win.”

So what could Hamlin have done differently?

“You turn left and go for the bottom—as simple as that,” Wallace said.

Shane van Gisbergen still elated by top-10 run at Kansas

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen is back in familiar territory this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series races in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Shane Van Gisbergen. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Van Gisbergen will try to win his fifth straight road course event in NASCAR’s top division. Jeff Gordon holds the series record for consecutive road course wins with six.

Nevertheless, as he took questions from reporters before Cup Series practice on Saturday, van Gisbergen couldn’t hide his elation at the 10th-place finish he achieved last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, his first top 10 on a NASCAR oval.

The three-time Australian Supercars champion achieved the milestone despite a first-lap pass-through, an inspection-related penalty that put him a lap down from the outset.

Van Gisbergen recovered to post the 11th-most green-flag passes during the race (111), even though he didn’t return to the lead lap as beneficiary until the third caution on Lap 90.

“We had a little penalty for a mistake, and then, yeah, having to be a lap down, or two laps down we ended up, and coming back was really cool,” van Gisbergen said. “It was pretty genuine, the speed, as well. We were ahead of most of the crashes, and having a really good day.

“So, yeah, I was pretty excited. I’ve never been so excited for a top-10, but this series is tough on the ovals. Everyone’s so good, and it has taken all year for us to get up to speed. It’s just a good reward for everyone who’s helped me to get here, the spotters and crew chief. I think everyone was pretty stoked after that race. It was a cool atmosphere.

Joey Logano returns to site of last year’s big reprieve

When last year’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course was over, Joey Logano was out of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Joey Logano. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Hours later, Logano learned that Alex Bowman had been disqualified for an underweight car, a penalty that put Logano back into the Playoff field.

A week later, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won at Las Vegas and earned a spot in the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway, where Logano won the race and claimed his third title in NASCAR’s top division.

“I remember the emotions leaving the track,” Logano said. “I was bummed. I was like, ‘Well, on one hand, we did really good here last year,’ so I was proud of the effort that we gave. I was bummed that we were just a little short, but it is what it is. That’s how I am at the end of the race. It is what it is.

“I can’t change it now, and you just have to keep looking out the windshield and we went home. We went home and had a fairly normal evening, and then I got a call and it was like, ‘Hey, honey, you ain’t gonna believe it. We’re back in.’

“Obviously, the next seven days after that changed everything, because we went from out to in to winning Vegas and in the Championship 4 and winning our third title, so just a quick turn of events, but that’s NASCAR racing for you. It’s unpredictable. Things can change really, really fast. You just have to keep rolling with it.”

Logano comes Sunday’s race eighth in the standings, just 13 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 8. The defending series champion isn’t looking past the Roval.

“It’s one step at a time,” Logano said. “We’ve got to get through this week first. This week right now is the most important race of the season for us. We’ve got to get through this one.

“Hopefully, we can continue to be in the championship race after this, and at that point we’ll look at Vegas (next weekend’s Round of 8 opener), but right now 100 percent of our focus is at the Roval.”