Bubba Wallace apologized for his behavior over the past four years, which resulted in a $50,000 fine from NASCAR for a retaliatory door smash into Alex Bowman following the Chicago Street Race. However, he did deliver a clapback on Sunday night.
Wallace slammed the door on Bowman after a prior incident during the race. Bowman slammed into the bend too hard, destroying the 23XI Racing Toyota.
Bowman accepted instant responsibility for the incident and attempted to text Wallace during a rain stoppage in the midst of the race.
“The rain delay was just a lot of me sitting there being embarrassed and mad at myself,” Bowman explained after the race on Sunday. “He has every right to be angry; I would be angry as well.
I tried calling him during the rain delay and texted him. There’s nothing I can do to make it better, and I’m sure winning will just make things worse.
Bowman won the race, and Wallace cautiously shoved him into the wall. Wallace disclosed the text and its answer at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.
“He texted me, ‘Hey man, sorry, immediately locked up.
Wallace stated that he did not reveal the (windshield wiper) switch issues until he was on television. “He’s like, ‘If there’s any consolation, my shit is also destroyed.'”
“And I texted him after the race, ‘Yeah, really destroyed, nice job on the win.'”
“So, we’re good.”
For what it’s worth, Bowman argued that NASCAR should not penalize him, but this did not influence the decision. “Yeah, I’d do that, too,” Bowman remarked on Sunday. “I spoiled his day. We had a hectic restart.
I basically made every bad mistake I could think of, and I was struggling with my windshield wiper switch to get it to work, and I couldn’t, so I missed the corner and ran over him.
I locked all four tires and slid right into him. I just messed up and really wrecked his day.
“I’m pretty hard on myself when I make mistakes like that, and I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened.”
