Bubba Wallace was fined $50,000 after the Chicago Street Race for contacting race winner Alex Bowman on the cool-down lap.
Nearly a week removed from the contact, Wallace entered Pocono Raceway on Saturday with a newfound perspective following the penalty issued by NASCAR on Tuesday.
“The penalty was probably the best thing to happen to me,” Wallace said. “I’ve been miserable for years walking around with a persona that I’m not proud of. I apologize. I need to apologize to a lot of people that are close to me. … Just frustrated and trying way too hard and not focused on the right things.”
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“Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100%. Window net was down, seat belts were off. Not an ideal situation. And you know, it’s the guy you’re racing with in the points and then he goes on to win the race. So it’s like icing on the cake, right? So it’s just three or four slaps in the face when you’re working your ass off to be better for the team and just ripped away. Not that I’m justifying it at all — but I’m a passionate guy and I let my frustration get the best of me.”
Wallace credited Kevin Harvick, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion and current FOX Sports analyst, for guidance midweek when Wallace was competing in the Summer Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Harvick, in part, told Wallace “to show up with a smile on my face and accept it.”
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Bowman said during the winner’s press conference Sunday at Chicago that he didn’t believe the contact warranted a penalty and stood by his thoughts at Pocono.
“I mean, I don’t think my opinion of the whole thing really mattered,” Bowman said. “I didn’t feel like it was anything terrible on my end from where I sat and I certainly understood why he was mad at me. But it’s obviously NASCAR’s decision on what they’re going to do. I feel like stuff like that happens more often than the TV camera probably catches but yeah, it was one of those deals.”
— NASCAR.com —