To Bob Pokulas
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
NASCAR suspended Bubba Wallace at Sunday’s Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway for deliberately destroying Kyle Larson last weekend.
There was little doubt that NASCAR intended to chastise Wallace after the incident with Larson that occurred on Sunday when he raced in the top five at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The only question was whether NASCAR would suspend Wallace.
Bubba Wallace suspends 1 race over incident with Kyle Larson
Quick Thoughts with Bob Poklas: Reacting to Bubba Wallace’s One Race Suspension Due to Incident with Kyle Larson.
NASCAR has a history of not wanting drivers suspended. They know some fans are saving money to attend one race a year, and they want those fans to be able to meet their favorite drivers.
However, there were five distinct areas in Wallace’s case that could be considered violations of NASCAR rules.
— Deliberately destroying another driver on a particularly fast area of the track.
— Destruction of Kyle Larson’s driver, whose team still qualified for the Owners’ Championship. The accident also seized Christopher Bell, who was in contention for the drivers’ championship.
— instead of walking to the ambulance, walk the hot track from his car to Larson.
— The act of physically pushing Larson several times.
— pushes away the hand of a safety officer who appears to be trying to direct Wallace to the ambulance.
Bubba Wallace goes after Kyle Larson in hot exchange
Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace battle it out on the track after being wrecked at Turn 4 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
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In a penalty report, NASCAR will ban physical confrontations with NASCAR officials, physical violence with other competitors, attempts to manipulate a race or championship, willfully destroying another vehicle, and He cited the rule that suspensions are justified under five factors of dangerous risk behavior. For competitor safety.
NASCAR said the suspension was a result of the on-track incident with Larson, not playoff impact or subsequent actions.
NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell told SiriusXM radio, “When you look at how that incident happened in our minds, it was a really dangerous act, it was intentional, “Looking at this sport and where we are now and where we want to draw that line going forward, we thought it definitely crossed the line.” And that’s what we were focused on in making this decision.”
Wallace released an apology for his actions on Monday, choosing his words carefully so as not to admit he intentionally destroyed Larson.
“I fight with immense passion, but with passion comes frustration. I should have better expressed the values of the team.
“You live and learn, and I will learn.”
bubba wallace what happened on sunday
Bubba Wallace talks about what happened in the Kyle Larson case and his reaction to it.
Here’s how other drivers stopped acting on the track compared to Wallace’s incident.
— In 2019, Johnny Sauter was suspended for one race in the Truck Series after wrecking Austin Hill in Iowa for a yellow.
Comparison to the Wallace case: Sauter intentionally crashed another car, but there were some differences. Sauter moved under the yellow (where the driver slowed down and was not expected to crash) and hit a leech at the driver’s side door (but not so fast and he didn’t put him down) in the wall).
— In 2015, Matt Kenseth received a two-race suspension for beating Joey Logano at Martinsville. Kenseth was several laps down after the wreck, was passed by Logano and was driven into the wall. Logano was still in contention for the Cup title, but Kenseth was not.
Comparison with Wallace’s accident: Any accident involving a playoff entrant, intentionally crashing another car under green flag conditions, ending the driver’s race, is comparable. The difference: Wallace wasn’t a few laps down and Larson wasn’t the leader. They were fighting for fifth place.
— In 2011, Kyle Busch was suspended from the Xfinity and Cup races in Texas after alarming Ron Hornaday in a truck race at the first event of the weekend. Hornaday was in contention for the truck title at the time.
Comparison to Wallace’s accident: This involved another car deliberately crashing into a wall, involving a championship contender, and had similar safety concerns. The difference: Busch was the driver of the Cup who raced in the series (at the time, the truck had no playoffs and Cup drivers could race in the series later in the season). Track He was a Cup driver who made an impact on the championship. This incident also occurred under yellow.
Kyle Larson thinks Bubba Wallace had reason to be upset
Kyle Larson admits Bubba Wallace had reason to be mad at him after Sunday’s incident.
Below is a comparison of Wallace’s case with a high-profile retaliation that did not result in a suspension.
— Earlier this postseason, William Byron cautiously spun Denny Hamlin in Texas. NASCAR docked Byron with his 25 points and fined him $50,000. On appeal, the points penalty was reversed, but the fine was increased to $100,000.
Wallace Incident Comparison: The playoff impact is comparable, as this incident ruined Hamlin’s chances of winning in Texas. The differences are many, as Byron was not overtly intentional and was done under yellow without significant damage to Hamlin’s car.
— Also in 2022, Noah Gragson destroyed a Sage column at the Xfinity Series race at Road America, causing a crash with several cars. Gragson deducted him 30 points and he was fined $35,000.
Comparison to Wallace’s accident: This was also an intentional crash of another car, and another driver was involved in the accident. Gragson’s accident at high speed was not an ellipse with the car crashing hard into the wall. It also had no significant impact on the playoffs.
— In 2012, a lap down Jeff Gordon destroyed Clint Bowyer at Phoenix in the penultimate race of the season. A big brawl ensued between the two teams. Gordon said he was deducted 25 points and fined $100,000.
A comparison to the Wallace incident: This was an intentional crash of another car under the green that mathematically put the drivers in contention for the title. The Gordon incident ended a day for Bowyer and a day for Matt Kenseth. The difference was that this was a short 1 mile (1.6 km) course, not very fast.
— In 2010, Carl Edwards wrecked Brad Keselowski in Atlanta, sending Keselowski’s car into the air. Edwards was parked and placed on probation for the rest of the race.
How it compares to Wallace’s accident: If you need a horrific accident to compare to Wallace’s, this probably fits because Keselowski’s car flipped over. At the time, there was much debate as to whether previous damage to Keselowski’s car helped him levitate, but this was still a nerve-wracking moment. He wrecked Keselowski again later in the year, docking 60 points and being fined $25,000.
Bob Pockrass runs NASCAR for FOX Sports. Over the decades, including the last 30 Daytona 500s, he has worked for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine, The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal, and more. Follow him on Twitter @Bob PoclasSign up for Bob Poklas’ FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter.
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