NASCAR fines Bubba Wallace $50,000 after Chicago race for incident with Alex Bowman

NASCAR fined Bubba Wallace $50,000 for his retaliatory contact with Alex Bowman’s car after Bowman won the Chicago Street Race last Sunday.

Wallace rammed Bowman’s car with his door on the cool-down lap, sending it into the wall.

Earlier in the race, Bowman had hit Wallace. Bowman took blame for the incident and said after his win that he did not believe Wallace should be penalized for the incident after he hit him.

Alex Bowman said Bubba Wallace “has every right to be angry.”

“I’d be mad too,” Bowman said of Wallace. “I ruined his day. The restart was chaotic. I just made every wrong decision imaginable. I was fighting with my windshield wiper switch, trying to get it to work, but I couldn’t get it to work. I was focused on that and I missed the corner.”

“I locked all four tires and slid right into him. I just messed it up and completely ruined his day.”

“I’m pretty hard on myself when I make mistakes like that and I’ve been embarrassed ever since it happened. The rain delay was mostly because I was just sitting there, embarrassed and angry at myself.

“He has every right to be angry.”

Denny Hamlin has won seven Cup races at Pocono – a track record – while Christopher Bell has led nearly 29% of the laps in the last seven Cup races this season.

NASCAR cited two sections of the rules in fining Wallace.

NASCAR cited Section 4.4.B, which states:

Member actions that may result in a loss of 25-50 Driver and/or Team Owner points and/or a fine of $50,000-$100,000. Violations may also result in race suspensions, indefinite suspension, or membership revocation:

• Physical altercation with a NASCAR official, media representative, fan, etc.
• Attempt to manipulate the outcome of the race or championship.
• Intentionally damaging another vehicle in the pit lane.
• Destroying or skidding another vehicle, whether or not this removes the vehicle from the competition.
• Any actions that endanger the security of an event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of participants, officials, spectators or others.

NASCAR also cited Section 4.4.D, which states:

Member actions that may result in a fine and/or indefinite suspension or revocation of membership:

• Actions by a NASCAR member that, in NASCAR’s opinion, are detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR.

NASCAR has not announced any additional penalties for the Chicago weekend.