Bubba Wallace deserves hefty fine, points penalty and suspension for Larson incidents
Editor's note: Full results, post-race notes and updated driver standings are at the end of this story.
I’m going to start today’s analysis of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two reflections:
1) Before I criticize a driver for an on-track incident, I almost always invoke my “10x rule”: I replay video of a controversial incident at least 10 times to make sure I see what happened with complete clarity before I pronounce judgment or point a finger of blame.
2) Getting “pinched” up along the wall by an opponent is a part of NASCAR racing. And just to clarify, when I say “pinched,” I mean that the action of the opposing driver has to be clean and not egregious.
In other words, no contact made.
With both those things being said, that leads me to point No. 3:
Bubba Wallace needs to be suspended and fined heavily for the incident Sunday with Kyle Larson, both the on-track retaliation and for his post-incident assault upon Larson. There is absolutely no place in this sport for either of those incidents.
I’ve long admired and liked Wallace, although he’s done some pretty questionable, if not outright dumb, things along the way.
But Sunday, Bubba was nothing more than an (expletive).
He was 100 percent wrong. And as usual, Bubba once again said he wasn’t wrong, blaming someone else – in this case, Larson – than himself.
Bubba admitted in a post-race interview Sunday that “I don't lift” in tight situations. But here’s the rub: Larson NEVER, EVER touched Bubba’s car in Turn 3. Sure, Larson pinched Bubba up close to the wall, but it was not Larson’s responsibility on how Bubba reacted.
Rather, Bubba’s “I don't lift” philosophy came back to bite him and he hit the outside wall as he was exiting the turn. But instead of admitting he messed up and SHOULD have lifted, Wallace hit the wall.
And then, Wallace hunted down and intentionally hit Larson, causing both cars to spin and wreck and hit the wall – hard, I might add – ending both their days, even though, again, Larson’s Chevrolet NEVER touched Bubba’s Toyota.
Then, Wallace climbed out of his car and went hunting for Larson again, pushing and shoving him as Larson tried to move away from the larger and more intimidating Wallace.
Let’s face it, Larson is more like a horse racing jockey, a relatively tiny (135 lbs., soaking wet), while Wallace has about 45 lbs. on Larson and likely could have thrown a few punches – and probably would have – if NASCAR officials hadn’t stepped in to stop the incident.
And I might add, just like the on-track incident, Larson did nothing to Wallace to prompt the physical retaliation, either. Instead of manning up and admitting he screwed up, Wallace blamed Larson for his mistake.
It’s not the first time Wallace has done that type of thing. It’s probably closer to maybe the 25th time or more in his Cup career that he’s not accepted self-blame and instead pointed fingers at another driver.
Sounds like Denny Hamlin, the king of pointing fingers in NASCAR, right? Oh wait, who does Bubba drive for? Duhhhh.
On the surface, this was really an inconsequential incident between two drivers who are no longer in the playoff picture. In most cases, it would have gone down in NASCAR history as just another racing incident.
BUT the thing is it was not just another racing incident …
Because of Bubba’s bonehead decision to seek out some kind of unnecessary and imaginary payback against Larson, the wrecking pair collected Christopher Bell and his race car in the process. In so doing, it’s likely Bubba may have cost Bell a chance at advancing to the season-ending Championship 4 winner-take-all title race Nov. 6 at Phoenix.
Bell, who won last week’s race on the Roval at Charlotte to advance to the current Round of 8 semifinals, leaves Las Vegas last among the eight remaining Cup playoff drivers, 23 points behind the cutoff line to qualify for Phoenix.
And he has no one to blame for that than Bubba.
To some, 23 points may not seem like a major margin differential at earlier parts of the season. But now, with just three races left in the 2022 campaign – and only two races left in the semifinal round – that’s essentially a half-race worth of points for Bell to try and regain.
That’s going to be very hard to overcome.
Bell pretty much has to win either one of the next two races – at Miami this Sunday or Martinsville next Sunday – or have top-5 finishes in both races to have ANY chance of advancing to the Championship 4 round (and even back-to-back top-5s may not be enough).
Bottom line, I go back to what I said earlier: Bubba Wallace was a moron for what he did. He messed up, no ifs, ands or buts about it. If he can’t figure out what to do when an opposing driver pinches or squeezes him, he doesn’t deserve to be racing in the Cup Series.
Sure, if Larson’s car would have hit his, then Wallace would have been at least somewhat justified in seeking revenge.
Cole Custer got a huge fine and points penalty for allegedly manipulating the outcome of the Roval race last week so that teammate Chase Briscoe would advance to the Round of 8.
What Bubba did was far more egregious, given it will likely cost Bell a Championship 4 spot.
NASCAR is expected to announce any potential penalties on Tuesday (maybe Monday, given the significance of the playoffs). The No. 1 thing the sanctioning body should absolutely, positively not do is penalize Larson.
He didn’t do anything on the racetrack that deserved Wallace’s retaliation, nor Wallace physically attacking him.
Although if I’m not mistaken, I believe Larson knows some form of marital arts (he was offered an MMA exhibition fight just before COVID hit in 2020). Kyle should have gone Bruce Lee on Wallace’s ass at the first sign of a push or shove by the Bubba-man/child.
That might have had more impact than any penalty or fine NASCAR assesses Wallace.
There’s no question Bubba deserves to be taught a MAJOR LESSON (the capitalization and boldface are obviously for much-needed emphasis). NASCAR should start with a 100-point penalty, and a $200,000 fine for intentionally wrecking Larson at speed and jeopardizing not only Larson – particularly in a season where we’ve seen two drivers out with concussions (Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman) – but other drivers as well.
Even Larson agrees: “I think with everything that’s been going on here lately, with head injuries, fractured ligaments and all that, I don’t think it’s probably the right thing to do."
That's putting it mildly.
If NASCAR does lower the boom on Wallace, there should be an additional penalty -- maybe another $200K -- for potentially costing Bell a chance at the championship.
Due to his abject stupidity, Wallace should also be suspended for the remaining three races of this season and also place him on probation for the entire 2023 season.
Maybe then and only then will William Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. learn to drive with his head – instead of his you-know-what hole.
