NASCAR dug their own hole with Bubba Wallace controversy

The mere mention of the name Bubba Wallace is enough to bring the worst out of a certain portion of NASCAR's fanbase; that's nothing new.

But what's also nothing new is Wallace himself being at the center of controversy, and while not always the case, on a number of occasions, it's been of his own doing.

On Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, as he plummeted from the lead to the mid-to-low teens due to excessive Goodyear tire wear and degradation in the middle of the third stage, he had planned on coming into the pits for new tires.

But doing that would have mired him multiple laps off the lead lap. And it just so happens that he veered right, spinning out Hyak Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just moments before he had supposedly planned on making the pit stop.

Did Bubba Wallace purposely spin Stenhouse?

Even without saying anything after the fact, Wallace would have been accused of purposely spinning out Stenhouse to get the caution he so desperately needed. Again, just look at some of the comments on social media when he literally does anything.

And of course, the timing did seem rather convenient.

Wallace, of course, immediately apologized, telling his team to relay to the No. 47 team that his car had been impossible to turn at that stage because of the tire degradation and that's what caused the contact.

It certainly looked like his move to the right was perfectly timed to take Stenhouse out, though at the same time, would he really want to run the risk of making an enemy out of a non-playoff driver, having already locked up a spot in the round of 12?

Regardless, let's assume for a second that he did do it on purpose. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a driver has done it.

It wouldn't be the first time for Wallace, either.

Think back to Texas Motor Speedway in November 2019. Wallace was not a playoff driver, yet he intentionally spun out late in the race during a pit sequence because he needed a caution to pit with a flat tire. That yellow ultimately affected the round of 8, and ultimately the Championship 4, playoff picture.

Wallace admitted later that week that he did what he did on purpose, noting that several other drivers had done the same in the past and nothing had happened to them. After all, race car drivers looking out for number one is nothing new; in fact, it's to be expected.

But he went a step further, noting that until NASCAR actually did something about it, he was going to keep doing it. Only after that comment was he actually docked points and fined.

Sure, this time involved Wallace spinning out another driver, but it's not like Stenhouse was wrecked out of the race. The goal was the same: cause a spin to bring out a much-needed caution.

Bottom line? You can do it. Just don't admit it. That's the precedent NASCAR has set.

It's the single reason why Kyle Busch responded with "Nope. Nope. Nope.", a response that went viral after he was asked to elaborate on his Truck Series spin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2021.

Everyone knew he did it on purpose because he needed to pit with a flat tire, but because he didn't admit it, NASCAR didn't penalize him.

Again, Wallace might well have been innocent on Saturday night. I'm not ruling that out at all. And it obviously goes without saying that being innocent would inherently give him more than enough reason to not come out and say "yeah, I did it on purpose."

But even if he did do it on purpose, he also has no reason to admit it, thanks to NASCAR's own response to him admitting something similar a few years back.