LONG POND, Penn. — Bubba Wallace offered an apology for his race-weekend attitude, which has occasionally been combative, resulting in a $50,000 fine after he door-slammed race-winner Alex Bowman post-race during the NASCAR Cup Series event on the Chicago street course.
Two years ago, Wallace faced a harsher penalty, being suspended for a race after turning Kyle Larson into the wall at Las Vegas in retaliation.
The incident with Bowman happened during the cool-down lap, stemming from an early race collision. Bowman admitted fault for the initial contact, blaming it on his distraction with his windshield wiper.
Speaking at Pocono Raceway, the 30-year-old Wallace stated he wouldn’t appeal the fine and sought to take a positive view of it. “The penalty was probably the best thing that happened to me,” Wallace said. “I’ve been miserable for years, walking around with a persona that I’m not proud of. I need to apologize to a lot of people… I’m just frustrated, trying too hard, and not focused on the right things.”
Wallace’s frustrations come from both on and off the track. He is currently 15th in the overall standings and likely needs to secure a win in the next six races to make the Cup Series playoffs. Competing for the 23XI Racing team co-owned by Michael Jordan, Wallace is the only Black full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver and has faced mixed reactions since his activism in 2020.
A discussion earlier in the week with former Cup driver and current FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick offered Wallace perspective. “He told me to show up and be the fun-loving guy that I am throughout the week,” Wallace said. “That has been one of the most important things told to me — that people don’t see who I actually am on Sundays. That broke me because I always preach about being the same person on and off the racetrack.”
Denny Hamlin, another top driver and co-owner of 23XI Racing, noted that the public nature of Wallace’s door slam contributed to the significant fine. “It being live and everyone seeing it, probably caused a little more of a social media uproar which then they responded to that,” Hamlin said.
Despite Bowman advocating for Wallace not to be fined, Wallace reflected on the incident saying he had put considerable effort into improving his performance, particularly on road courses. “I’ve been putting my heart and soul into getting better and spending time with the team and in sim and trying to be better [on road courses],” Wallace said.
Wallace and Bowman have since texted and reconciled. “Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100 percent,” Wallace admitted. “But I’m a passionate guy and I let my frustration get the best of me.”
Wallace recounted life lessons from his father, which emphasized an eye-for-an-eye mentality but acknowledged that NASCAR focuses on the retaliatory actions. “It only matters [to NASCAR] about the second punch. It’s kind of bull, but it is what it is. So you’ve got to accept it and move on.”
After qualifying in the 29th spot for the Sunday race, Wallace remained upbeat despite initial struggles. “You roll with the punches, you roll with the $50,000 fine, you roll with the qualifying spot. And it is what it is. You’ve got another day to figure it out and go have fun pass a lot of cars and that’s my mindset. … Sorry to all you guys for being an asshole.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports, with a long history of covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.