Bubba Wallace was not a happy driver Sunday, and his actions might cost him some money, and more when NASCAR is done.
Wallace, who had led 29 laps earlier in the race, was fighting his way back to the front of the field after winning Stage 1. Racing side by side with Kevin Harvick going into Turn 3, Kyle Larson dove to the inside of the two looking to gain spots. Harvick, backed off and exiting Turn 4, Wallace and Larson were side by side. The two cars touched, and Wallace on the outside bounced off the wall. Larson shot down to the inside of the track, but Wallace immediately turned left hooking Larson’s car and spinning both up into the outside wall.
As soon as Wallace’s car came to a stop, he got out and headed towards Turn 1 where Larson was climbing from his wrecked machine.
Wallace threw down his helmet and began shoving Larson, who refused to shove back. The two drivers were soon separated and done for the day. Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels was heard on the team radio saying the move by Wallace was clearly retaliation.
“Cliff (Daniels, 5 crew chief)) is smart enough to know how easy these cars break,” Wallace said. “When you get shoved in the fence, deliberately like he (Kyle Larson) did, trying to force me to lift – the steering was gone, and he just so happened to be there.
“I hate it for our team. We had a super-fast car – not on short run speed, we were kind of falling back there and (Kyle) Larson wanted to make it a three-wide dive bomb. He never cleared me. I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk. Piss poor move on his execution.”
As for the message he wanted to give Larson when he confronted him:
“He (Kyle Larson) knows,” Wallace said his voice still shaking with anger. “He knows what he did was wrong. He wanted to question what I was doing, and he never cleared me. I just hate it for our team. Our McDonalds Toyota Camry was super solid – just needed to find a little bit on the short run and get the balance where we needed it. It would have been like Kansas and now the car is junk.”
Larson said he wasn’t shocked by Wallace’s reaction.
“No, it didn’t surprise me,” Larson said. “I obviously made an aggressive move into (turn) three; got in low, got loose and chased it up a bit. He (Bubba Wallace) got to my right front, and it got him tight and into the wall. I knew he was going to retaliate. He had a reason to be mad, but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated. “
Larson added that retaliation at speed is never acceptable.
“I think with everything that’s been going on here lately, with head injuries, fractured ligaments and all that, I don’t think it’s probably the right thing to do,” Larson said. “We’ve all done it – maybe not all of us – but I have. I’ve let the emotions get the best of me before, too. I know he’s probably still upset. I’m sure with everything going, he’ll know that he made a mistake in the retaliation part and I’m sure he’ll think twice about that next time.”
He knew Wallace wasn’t coming over for a friendly chat.
“No, I saw him walking over, so I figured he would do something,” Larson said. “Like I said, he had every right to be upset. I would rather him do that than tear up our cars in a dangerous manner. It is what it is.”
Larson and Wallace are no longer in the Playoffs, but Christopher Bell is. Bell was an unwilling victim of the Larson-Wallace tangle. As the two spun, Bell’s Toyota was clipped and spun as well. He was initially able to continue, but only a few laps later was forced to the garage and out of the race. He said it was clear what had happened.
“Bubba (Wallace) got run into the wall,” Bell said. “Then he retaliated on the 5 (Kyle Larson) and wiped us out.”
As for if NASCAR should penalize Wallace.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Follow protocol of whatever they’ve (NASCAR) done in the past.”
In 2011 Kyle Busch dumped Ron Hornaday during a Truck series race at Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR parked Busch for the rest of the weekend forcing him to sit out the Xfinity and Cup races that weekend. On that Monday Busch was fined $50,000 and put on probation for the rest of the season with a warning that if he retaliated on-track he would face an immediate suspension.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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