NASCAR: Bubba Wallace fires back at critics over intentional spin

Bubba Wallace fired back at those critical of his intentional spin at Texas Motor Speedway that ended up shifting the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture.

Sitting in 27th place in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Darrell Wallace Jr. is not a playoff driver and only came remotely close to qualifying for the playoffs with his third place finish in the regular season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in early September.

Nevertheless, he has made headlines fairly often throughout the first eight race of the four-round, 10-race playoffs, most recently in the race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Wallace had a tire going down in this past Sunday’s race at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas just five laps after Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, who had spent much of the race at the front of the field, came into the pits.

Wallace slowed to bring his #43 Chevrolet to the apron of the track before weaving back onto the track, back down onto the apron and then eventually spinning out in turn two, bringing out a caution flag.

This resulted in widespread criticism of Wallace for “intentionally spinning out”, led by Larson after the race. Larson, who was running in 21st place at the time since he had just come into the pits from fourth, restarted the race in 19th and could only rally to finish in 12th.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

Likewise, several other drivers lost several positions because of this incident. Teammate Kurt Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron finished in ninth, 10th, 11th and 17th place, respectively, after spending  much of the race toward the front.

Larson’s situation is particularly significant in that he is now 23 points below the Championship 4 cut line with only the round of 8 finale at ISM Raceway remaining to lock himself into the Championship 4. He spent much of Sunday afternoon within only a few points of that cut line, at times even ahead of it.

But Wallace, who is known for not backing down from controversial incidents, even going as far as throwing his drink on Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman while Bowman was receiving medical attention and then mocking him afterward, is, not surprisingly, not backing down.

Instead, Wallace fired back at his critics, not by saying that what he did wasn’t intentional, but by saying that so many other drivers have also done what he did, something that Larson himself admitted immediately after the race.

Here is what Wallace had to say.

Wallace was never a factor in the race, ultimately finishing in 24th place, three laps off the lead lap. But he maintains that he was racing for himself and nobody else and that’s why he did what he did, even though it ended up costing several other drivers valuable points — in Larson’s case, point that could cost him a trip to the Championship 4.

What, if anything, should NASCAR do in the future to prevent drivers from intentionally spinning out? Considering the fact that the data reportedly proved that’s what Bubba Wallace did, this will be something to monitor moving forward, especially if it happens again in either of the two remaining races on the 2019 playoff schedule.