NASCAR: Why Bubba Wallace isn’t going to be punished

Bubba Wallace isn’t going to be penalized nor reprimanded by NASCAR for a controversial tweet on Friday that ignited a figurative firestorm.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace was one of the many athletes who took to Twitter on Friday afternoon to share his thoughts on the “not guilty” verdict in the widely publicized Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

Wallace’s racially-motivated tweet predictably started a firestorm in the comments section, garnering nearly twice as many replies as likes, including a few which got more likes than the tweet itself.

Here is what Wallace had to say.

Many of those who replied to the tweet referenced an apparent hypocrisy by NASCAR in that several drivers who had made past statements deemed offensive by large groups of people were required to take sensitivity training.

But Wallace, who effectively injected a racial element into a situation where it was not relevant (Rittenhouse and all of those shot were white), will not be facing any punishment, and Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass explained why.

The hypothetical element of Wallace’s tweet (and the fact that another case settled on the same day disproved a key part of what he was trying to say) led some fans to create hypothetical scenarios of their own: what if the shoe had been on the other foot? What if had been someone else? Would saying someone benefited from race really not be deemed ridicule?

Pockrass explained that this isn’t something that NASCAR can police, though teams could theoretically hand down discipline if they feel it is necessary.

So it seems to boil down to not necessarily agreeing with what somebody says, but respecting the fact that they have a right to say it.

Of course, certain past instances of NASCAR requiring sensitivity training for drivers over various remarks will leave fans questioning all of this, and it’s arguably more the lack of clarity than anything else that has many fans confused.

While nobody is questioning why Kyle Larson was suspended, what about Kyle Busch? He used a word to describe a situation, not insult an individual (Hailie Deegan, on the other hand, used the disparaging word), and the version of the word that Busch used literally has multiple definitions. But like Deegan did before 2021, Busch needs to take the training before he competes in 2022.

And what about Mike Wallace? NASCAR has never identified what the post was that got him suspended last year, though his suspension came after he made a post that encouraged people to think before making “uneducated” posts.

To be fair, I think we could all benefit from this advice, so if that’s what got him suspended (nobody but NASCAR knows), that’s a bit a head scratcher, considering there is no disparagement in that claim. Perhaps there is more to that story that hasn’t been revealed.

Here is what NASCAR cited when they indefinitely suspended Wallace.

"“Public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition."

And then there is Josh Reaume. NASCAR suspended Reaume for what was believed to be an anti-Semitic design (to be specific, a Swastika) on his toaster strudel.

Lo and behold, the image circulating (and leading to all kinds of threats toward Reaume) was a fake (the media is always 100% honest though, right?).

So Reaume was left wondering whether or not it was all a misunderstanding or if somebody had photoshopped the actual photo that he had shared thinking he was simply sharing a picture of his food.

According to Toby Christie, NASCAR did later provide Reaume the actual image which was sent to them by somebody who had screenshotted the original.

Bottom line, you can understand where the confusion comes in on anything regarding punishment, or lack thereof, from NASCAR when it comes to sensitive issues.

(Bubba) Wallace certainly didn’t come right out and insult anybody, but you can see quite clearly the division that came about over his insertion of an always controversial racial element that really had nothing to do with the case to which he was referring.

But to be fair to NASCAR, some were hoping that they would penalize Matt DiBenedetto a few weeks back after he joked that living on planet Earth in 2021 is “permanent sensitivity training”.

Many took the comment, which was really nothing more than a light-hearted way of saying “watch what you say, especially in this day and age”, as him making light of the Busch situation. NASCAR did not issue any penalties, and rightfully not.

While some speculated that Wallace would end up deleting his original tweet, he doubled down later on, though he did admit that he can “do better” and that everybody can do the same. That’s probably the understatement of the century, and I’m not just referring to Wallace.