NASCAR fines Bubba Wallace $50,000 for post-race incident
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR handed Bubba Wallace a $50,000 fine for an incident with Alex Bowman after the Chicago Street Race on Sunday.
Earlier in the race, Bowman bumped into Wallace and spun him out. While Bowman won, Wallace finished 13th. He expressed his frustration, bumping into Bowman and putting him into the wall going into turn 12 on the cooldown lap.
“Yeah, I’d do that, too,” Bowman said post-race. “I ruined his day. We had a really — the restart was chaotic. I just made every wrong decision I possibly could, and I was fighting with my windshield wiper switch trying to get the thing working. And I couldn’t get it working and I was focused on that, missed the corner and cleaned him out. I locked all four tires up and slid right into him. I just messed up and absolutely ruined his day.”
Wallace wasn’t available for comment after the race.
The fine NASCAR handed him is in line with how they’ve handled similar situations. At Circuit of the Americas last year, NASCAR handed a $50,000 fine to Daniel Suarez for also bumping into Alex Bowman on pit road after the race.
Many people on social media called Chase Elliott out for making contact with Suarez after the race Sunday. Elliott didn’t receive a fine.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com