Aric Almirola says Bubba Wallace flipped him off, cussed him out before scuffle at Charlotte
Aric Almirola has revealed what led to him shoving Bubba Wallace on pit road during the red flag rain delay in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Monday.
“I felt like I raced him clean and he was racing me dirty. I let him go and then he shot me the bird,” Almirola told Alan Cavanna of Performance Racing Network. “So I went to ask him why he shot the bird and he started mouthing off and cussing me. I wasn’t gonna have that.”
The two made contact with each other just prior to rain bringing out the red flag in Stage 2. Contact occurred after Wallace cut in front of Almirola in a multi-car battle. Almirola responded by running Wallace up the track before making contact with the No. 23 Chevrolet.
Daniel McFadin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette provided further context of a past incident that Wallace declined to go into detail on during the 2023 pre-season media tour.
“No idea what this is about,” McFadin wrote on Twitter. “But, back at (I believe) the pre-season media tour the year after Bubba Wallace subbed for Almirola in the 43, Wallace mentioned a text message Aric sent him at the time that was less than friendly. He didn’t go into details.”
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Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), Almirola’s race team, chimed in on Twitter after the shoving incident.
“It takes A LOT to make Aric that mad…,” SHR tweeted.
Bubba Wallace comments on shove from Aric Almirola
Wallace, meanwhile, told Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports he wasn’t surprised by Almirola’s shove.
“Just passion,” Wallace said. “We’re racing hard during the second stage and we finished fourth, so, it was a good day… When you walk around with two faces, that’s what you get.”
Almirola, 39, entered Monday sitting 26th in the points standings, having notched just one top-10 in 13 starts. He finished P25 at Charlotte. Wallace, meanwhile, continued his streak of success. He finished P4, recording his third consecutive top-five.
“I want to get all our partners in victory lane,” Wallace said after the race. “What could’ve been if we’d been closer to the front with a restart like that. How about Blaney? About time!’