BUBBA WALLACE DOORSLAMMED ALEX BOWMAN. ?
The No. 48 spun the No. 23 earlier in the race. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/C9GP93C4zC
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 8, 2024
After Alex Bowman crossed the finish line to score his first NASCAR Cup Series win since March of 2022 in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course, it was quite apparent that Bubba Wallace had not forgotten about a Lap 24 incident between the two drivers.
Here is the moment that Wallace was still seething about after the checkered flag in Sunday’s race:
Trouble for @BubbaWallace … and then for @ChaseBriscoe_14! pic.twitter.com/VdlR8ntjnE
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 7, 2024
As Bowman was celebrating by drifting, spinning out, and waving at the crowd on his cool-down lap, Wallace, who finished 13th on the day, worked his way through the traffic and found Bowman’s purple No. 48 Ally Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Before pulling his car to pit lane, Wallace slammed into the side of Bowman’s car, which sent Bowman into the concrete barrier, and the contact lifted the right side tires of Bowman’s car off of the ground. On-board footage from inside Bowman’s car shows that Bowman had his window net down, he likely had his seat belts loosened as well. When the contact happens, Bowman looks surprised and then puts his hand in the air in disbelief.
Here is another look of the post-race incident from the roof cam of Bowman’s car:
Oof, @BubbaWallace shows his displeasure to winner @Alex_Bowman, who got into the No. 23 earlier in the race.
Bowman apologizes to the 23 team in his post-race interview. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/OO1rJ68Tbb
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) July 8, 2024
Then, Bowman noticed it was the No. 23 car, which he knew had an axe to grind after their incident earlier in the event.
In his post-race victory interview, Bowman apologized to Wallace and the No. 23 23XI Racing team for the incident on Lap 24. Bowman explained that he slid into Wallace as he was attempting to get his windshield wipers turned on as rain had started to fall at the Chicago Street Course.
“But first off, like we talked earlier, I have to apologize again to the 23 guys,” Bowman said. “Just messed up, trying to get my windshield wiper on, missed a corner and ruined their day. I hate that. I’m still embarrassed about it, but we have a trophy to take home, and know it means a lot to this team. They put me in position to win the race.”
Bowman and Wallace have had beef in the past. Bowman had got into Wallace during the 2019 Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, and after that race, Wallace sought out Bowman on pit road. As Bowman was being treated on pit road for heat exhaustion, Wallace threw water in his face.
Before race-baiter hoaxer Bubba Wallace attacked Kyle Larson he threw water in Alex Bowman’s face. Dude’s a jerk. pic.twitter.com/xeFnNynRPv
— LivePDDave ?? (@LivePDDave1) October 18, 2022
Despite the beef from 2019, and the run-ins on Sunday, Bowman seems to not have any hard feelings toward Wallace. In his post-race press conference, Bowman said he didn’t blame Wallace for hitting him after the race.
“I’d be mad, too. I ruined his day,” Bowman explained. “I just messed up. I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. I tried to call him during the rain delay and I shot him a text.”
Bowman also said that he doesn’t believe Wallace should be penalized for the post-race contact as he felt Wallace, “barely hit me,” and Bowman says he felt the contact was deserved.
2 Responses
And that is why Bubba Wallace will never be more than a field filler in NASCAR….
he needs to be fired wallace isnt supporting other drivers