Alex Bowman admitted that he didn’t believe Bubba Wallace’s retaliation act during the Chicago Street Course over the weekend was worthy of a penalty considering the circumstances, but NASCAR disagreed.
NASCAR officials fined Wallace $50,000 on Wednesday for violating member conduct code when he slammed his car into the door of Bowman’s No. 48 during the cooldown lap of Sunday’s race.
Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 7, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
The post-race confrontation sent an unsuspecting Bowman into the wall.
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The situation followed an incident on Lap 25 when Bowman spun out Wallace, costing the No. 23 driver track position and a potential shot at winning the race. Wallace finished 13th while Bowman ended up picking up the eighth win of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
After the race, Bowman expressed that Wallace should not be punished, adding that he “has every right to be mad.”
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 23XI Racing McDonald’s Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Circuit on July 7, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Ben Hsu/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BUBBA WALLACE RETALIATES AGAINST ALEX BOWMAN FOLLOWING SPIN OUT AT NASCAR’S CHICAGO STREET COURSE
“I’d be mad, too. I ruined his day. The restart was chaotic. I just made every wrong decision that I possibly could. I was fighting with my windshield wiper switch trying to get it working, and I couldn’t get it working. I was focused on that, missed the corner.”
“I locked all four tires and just slid right into him,” he continued. “I just messed up and absolutely ruined his day. I’m pretty hard on myself when I make mistakes like that, and I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. The rain delay was a lot of me just sitting there being embarrassed and being mad at myself.”
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald’s Toyota, greets fans as he walks offstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on July 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
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After Sunday’s race, Wallace sits 17th in the playoff standings and 45 points outside the cutoff line for the 16-driver field.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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