Race Weekend Central

NASCAR Penalizes Bubba Wallace for Intentional Spin at Texas

NASCAR penalized Bubba Wallace 50 points and $50,000 for intentionally spinning and necessitating a caution in last weekends Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The sanctioning body announced the penalties Saturday (Nov 9) prior to qualifying for the Cup Series race at ISM Raceway.

On lap 243 at Texas Motor Speedway, due to a flat tire, Wallace attempted to spin his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet. On his second try, he succeeded and NASCAR threw the caution flag. The caution flag period came during a cycle of green flag pit stops, thereby affecting the outcome of the race. Specifically, it forced playoff driver Kyle Larson to take the wave around during the caution period.

Larson said his team looked at the data and it proved Wallace intentionally spun his No. 43 Chevrolet. Wallace ultimately finished 24th.

The ruling by NASCAR comes after three straight weeks of controversy about displaying the yellow flag.

In the Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, after cutting a tire, Joey Logano spun his No. 22 Ford and NASCAR threw a caution. Then Wallace spun his No. 43 Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway also necessitating a caution. Last night in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at ISM Raceway, Danny Bohn had a flat tire and his No. 30 Toyota appeared to nearly come to a stop. However, NASCAR withheld the yellow flag, Bohn limped his No. 30 Toyota to pit road, and the race stayed green.

On Friday at ISM Raceway, NBC Sports reporter Dustin Long questioned Wallace about the incident and Wallace was frank in his response.

The penalty drops Wallace from 27th to 28th in the point standings, respectively.

Responding to the penalty, Richard Petty Motorsports competition director Philippe Lopez said, “We fully understand NASCAR’s position and expectations of its competitors. NASCAR has a difficult job officiating race events and we do not need to make the task more challenging. Wallace will not appeal the penalty.”

About the author

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.

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Alan

Bubba why did I open your mouth?dang bubba no way NASCAR could of proved anything about that.bubba NASCAR is like being in service.u don’t volunteer for anything and whatever secret u have keep it.don’t ever let the car out of the bag.u will have to eat this one but never again.I imagine Richard was not happy with u for spilling the beans!!! did u learn anything from this or was it for nothing??

Echo

Lmao. Nascar said they had to be one hundred percent sure, so bubba admitted doing it on live camera. $50,000 dollar interview. Priceless.

Lin Hunnicutt

Now we know Bubba can’t think as well as drive. Richard Petty Motorsport is a sham. Richard needs to divest his name from this team before his name or reputation mean nothing.

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