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NASCAR suspends Bubba Wallace

Posted by AR1 staff

NASCAR announced Tuesday that it suspended Bubba Wallace after his actions in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wallace was suspended for one race after he crashed Kyle Larson at Lap 94 of the South Point 400 and proceeded to shove Larson, both violations of Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C & E of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct laid out in the NASCAR Rule Book. Rule 4.4.C lists “intentionally wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result” as one of five member actions that could result in a penalty.

Bubba Wallace, could not play the race card this time. He crossed the line and then tried to bully an Asian driver half his size 1.) Intentionally hooked someone going 185 mph in an “un-safe” race car 2.) Walked across a hot racetrack 3.) Fought a guy who didn’t fight back 4.) Shoved a NASCAR employee 5.) Blamed the whole incident on the car malfunctioning, which was a blatant lie

The incident began at the exit of Turn 4 in the Cup Series’ Round of 8 opener at the 1.5-mile track, where Larson slid high and forced Wallace’s 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota into the outside retaining wall. Wallace, the victor of Stage 1, turned left into Larson’s right-rear quarter panel, sending the No. 5 Chevrolet spinning toward the outside wall and clipping Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota in the process. Bell is still competing for a spot in the Championship 4 while Larson continues to chase an owners’ championship for Hendrick Motorsports. None of the three competitors were able to continue.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief operating officer, joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “SiriusXM Speedway” on Tuesday afternoon to discuss why the sanctioning body responded to Wallace’s actions with a suspension.

“Our actions are really specific to what took place on the race track,” O’Donnell told host Dave Moody. “And when we look at how that incident occurred, in our minds, really a dangerous act. We thought that was intentional and put other competitors at risk. And as we look at the sport and where we are today and where we want to draw that line going forward, we thought that definitely crossed the line and that’s what we focused on in terms of making this call.”

O’Donnell noted NASCAR officials examined the data and reviewed multiple angles of the incident before landing on the decision to suspend Wallace, an uncommon penalty levied against drivers.

“When we look at drivers historically, it’s been very rare if ever that we suspend drivers, so we don’t take that action lightly,” O’Donnell said. “So we view our penalties from what has to happen at the race track. It’s a driver-driven sport. Obviously, everybody’s very important to what takes place in the sport. …

“But the driver oftentimes is the focus. And what happens on track is a big focus. So in this case, that’s an action we’ve rarely moved forward with when it comes to a driver. There’s comparisons to what we’ve done in the past, but as we’ve always said, we need to ratchet things up where we see that there’s a line that’s been crossed.”

After the incident, Wallace said the steering on his car broke and that Larson just happened to be there. O’Donnell confirmed NASCAR examined both the vehicle and the data available and added: “We’re confident in the decision we made and why we made it.”

23XI Racing released a statement that indicated it would not appeal NASCAR’s decision and that John Hunter Nemechek would replace Wallace in the No. 45 Toyota for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) at Homestead-Miami Speedway.