Bubba Wallace embraces Kevin Harvick's advice amid NASCAR's $50,000 penalty

In a recent media session, 23XI Racing's #23 driver Bubba Wallace addressed the penalty he received for door-slamming Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman in the cooldown lap. In addition, he explained how Kevin Harvick's advice affected how he handled the penalty.

Wallace, who has been having difficulty qualifying for the playoffs, had started the race in Chicago in P6, hoping to improve his position. On the restart of the 25th lap, Alex Bowman, while trying to wipe his windshield, made contact with Wallace, sending him into the wall. Bowman went on to win the Chicago Street Race. On the cool-down lap, a frustrated Wallace was seen door-slamming Bowman's #48 Chevrolet, reportedly in retaliation for the incident earlier.

NASCAR issued a $50,000 penalty to Wallace for violating Sections 4.4.B & D of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct for the incident in Chicago. Wallace has decided not to file an appeal against the penalty.

After the $50,000 penalty was announced, Wallace visited Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he encountered Kevin Harvick, who was there with his son Keelan for the Summer Shootout. Bob Pockrass shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) where Wallace reflected on their conversation. Wallace spoke about the insights he gained from talking with Harvick. He said:

“I will say I got my media training from Kevin Harvick. So, at the race track, we were at the Shootout race, Legend Cars racing with him and Keelan. He’s like, ‘You ready to roll? Ready to go qualify?’ I said, ‘Nope not really, just got fined.’ He’s said, ‘Man, that sucks.’ He told me to show up with a smile on my face and accept it."

"Might not agree with the penalty but I’m smiling about it. He also told me a lot of powerful things. Just show up and be the fun-loving guy that I am throughout the week,” Wallace added

Ahead of the Cup race at Pocono, Wallace finds himself on P15 in the driver standings. As Wallace has not yet qualified for the playoffs, he would be looking to drive his #23 Toyota Camry XSE into victory lane at the Great American Getaway 400.

---

"Feel some type of entitlement" - Bubba Wallace reflects on the incident that led to his $50,000 penalty.

Bubba Wallace has been in the spotlight for his door-slam incident with Alex Bowman. NASCAR dropped a $50,000 penalty on Wallace, which Bowman has also advocated against.

Wallace, the #23 driver, has addressed the penalty as one of the best things that happened to him. Furthermore, he talked about how Chicago was one of his best-performing road course races until the initial incident occurred. In the same interview above, Wallace shared his thoughts with regard to his actions during the cooldown lap.

"When that's all ripped away, you feel some type of entitlement to show your frustration. Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100%. It was when his(Bowman) net was down, seatbelts were off, not an ideal situation," he said.

"I'm a passionate guy and I let my frustration get the best of me," Wallace added.

Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, a teammate of Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports, has also voiced his opposition to NASCAR's penalty on Bubba Wallace, describing it as unfortunate.