Bubba Wallace Jr. escapes fines and penalties with one-race ban

NASCAR handed a one-race suspension to 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace Jr. for intentionally wrecking and shoving Kyle Larson in the infield during last weekend’s Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The #45 driver will miss the upcoming Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which begins at 2:30 pm ET on Sunday. A one-race ban with no fines or points penalties was assessed.

The suspension falls under the heading of Sections 4.4.C in NASCAR’s rule book, which mandates that “intentionally wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result.”

On Tuesday night, 23XI Racing released a statement through social media that indicated it will not appeal the suspension. The organization has also named Camping World Truck Series driver John-Hunter Nemechek as a replacement for Bubba Wallace Jr. in the #45 car for Sunday’s second race of Round of 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

See the 23XI Racing post below:

The incident began on Lap 94 of 267, when Kyle Larson slid up the track, pushing Wallace Jr. into the frontstretch wall in a close race for fifth position. Wallace Jr. turned and moved down the track and hit the back end of Larson’s #5 car. Those moves caused both the drivers to spin out on the track along with playoff contender Christopher Bell.

After both cars came to a stop in the infield, Wallace Jr. walked towards Larson, confronted him and then shoved him several times before race officials separated them.

Bubba Wallace Jr. has since issued an apology for his actions on his social media account and captioned it, “reflection”.

---

“We don’t take that action lightly”- NASCAR’s chief operating officer on Bubba Wallace Jr. suspension

In an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell stated that NASCAR officials investigated the data, reviewed multiple angles of the whole incident and then took the decision to suspend Bubba Wallace Jr.

The CEO of NASCAR said:

“When we look at drivers historically, it’s been very rare if ever that we suspend drivers, so we don’t take that action lightly. So we view our penalties from what has to happen at the race track. It’s a driver-driven sport. Obviously, everybody’s very important to what takes place in the sport.”

The second race of Round of 8 of the 2022 playoffs will kick off at Homestead-Miami Speedway at 2:30 pm ET on Sunday.