While Bubba Wallace says he might not agree with NASCAR’s $50,000 fine for hitting Alex Bowman’s car after last weekend’s Chicago Street Race, Wallace told reporters Saturday at Pocono Raceway that the penalty “was probably the best thing that happened to me.”
Wallace was penalized for retaliating after that race. Wallace was upset about contact by Bowman earlier in the race that turned Wallace. Bowman took the blame for the incident, saying he was trying to get his windshield wiper to work when he made contact with Wallace’s car.
After the race, Wallace door-slammed Bowman’s car, sending it into the wall as Bowman slowly went around the course after his victory.
As for why he considered the penalty a good thing for him, Wallace explained to reporters Saturday:
“I’ve been miserable for years, walking around with a persona that I’m not proud of,” he said. “I need to apologize to a lot of people, especially that are close to me.”
He then detailed his focus to improve on road courses and his frustrations with last weekend’s result.
“How many years have I been terrible at road courses?” Wallace said to reporters at Pocono. “Seven, right? So I’ve been putting my heart and soul into getting better and spending time with the team and the sim and trying to be better. Showing up at Chicago, that was our best road course race ever.
“And to have that wiped out in two corners when the conditions changed over messing with switches … you don’t mess with switches in the smallest part of the track, you had seven or eight caution laps (to address the matter). When that’s all ripped away, you feel some type of entitlement to show your frustration.
“Did I time it wrong? Sure. 100%. His window net was down, seat belts were off. Not an ideal situation. It’s the guy you are racing with in the points. Then he goes on to win the race, so it’s like icing on the cake, right? 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 was at Charlotte Motor Speedway competing in a legends car event this week when informed of the fine. Kevin Harvick was there with son Keelan, who was racing. Kevin Harvick gave Wallace some advice.
“He told me to show up with a smile on my face and accept it,” Wallace told reporters. “So, here’s my smile. Might not agree with the penalty, but I’m smiling about it.
“(Harvick) also told me a lot of powerful things. To show up and be the fun-loving guy that I am throughout the week. I think that’s been one of the most important things told to me that people don’t see who I actually am on Sundays. That broke me because I always preach about being the same person on and off the racetrack.
“It’s a pressure-cooker being at the Cup level, right? The last four years I’ve been miserable, just trying to walk around like everything is OK. Not from a mental standpoint. I know I’m big on mental health. My mental has been in check. Just trying to carry this persona like I said earlier that, ‘Hey, don’t bother me right now, I’m too busy’ and when one thing goes wrong, the whole thing crumbles.
“I came into this weekend with a smile on my face and wanting to have fun. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Wallace said he’s taking that approach even after he nearly crashed in qualifying and will start 29th in Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
Wallace said will not appeal the fine.
“I won’t be the last one to get one,” he told reporters. “We’ll see, Just got to move on. When things go south and why I retaliate, I’ve now realized, they’re not going to really emphasize on what started it, they emphasize on what finished it, right? I try not to start too much (stuff), but I was just raised to end it.
“I blame my dad. He is an eye-for-an-eye guy. He is all about being fair, at all cost of being fair. You punch me in the face, I’ll punch you in the face and then we shake hands after it and we’re even.”