NASCAR Set to Look Into New Bubba Wallace Incident

Bubba Wallace's up-and-down 2025 NASCAR Cup Series continued with a 28th place finish at Sunday's Chicago Street Race.

One of the major reasons Wallace wound up as far back as he did was his collision with fellow driver Alex Bowman, who was squaring off with Wallace in the second round of NASCAR's In-Season Tournament in addition to battling with him in the final laps Sunday.

Wallace and Bowman jockeyed each other for position, with the latter eventually dumping the former. Bowman finished eighth while Wallace checked in 20 spots lower.

On the latest edition of The Teardown, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said NASCAR will be looking into the encounter to see if penalties are warranted. 

“NASCAR will be taking a closer look at Bowman versus Bubba,” Gluck said, via On3. “Yes, they will. That was what I was told. At first I was like, ‘Oh, Bowman just dumped him.’ It looked like Bowman might’ve right-reared him. Then, on another replay I saw, it was like, ‘Oh, maybe Bubba cleared himself across.’

“Bowman said he thought that he was being pinballed between the wall and Bubba, and that’s what happened. He, of course — you have to say this, I guess, either way. He said he didn’t right-rear him on purpose. So, yeah — I don’t know about that.”

Gluck's colleague Jordan Bianchi also offered up some criticism for Wallace, saying the 31-year-old driver was too reckless with his approach when he came into the race needing a good amount of points.

“It was a driver in Bubba Wallace who cost himself today a lot of points,” Bianchi said. “He was fast in practice. I think he was like the fastest car, right? Then, qualifying doesn’t go his way. Does a great job, picks his way forward. Ends up with contact with Kyle Larson. Gets spun out. (Recovers for) a big points day. A day when you need — you’re in a points position where you don’t have a win and your path to playoffs is on points. He finished 28th, I think.”

After Sunday, Wallace sits in 16th place, right on the cut line for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. 

He's going to need some better performances, starting with this weekend's race at Sonoma, in order to reach the postseason.