Dale Earnhardt Jr. compares Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott post-race incidents at Chicago

NASCAR made the decision Wednesday to fine Bubba Wallace $50,000 for dooring race-winner Alex Bowman on the cool-down lap after this past Sunday’s Chicago Street Race.

Chase Elliott, meanwhile, came out unpunished by NASCAR for his run-in with Daniel Suarez on the cool-down lap. Speaking on the “Dale Jr. Download,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that he’s fine with what both Wallace and Elliott did and believes there should be room for drivers to retaliate after the race to a certain extent.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives take on Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott incidents

“The debate will be, will Bubba be penalized or fined,” Earnhardt said Tuesday. “… Some people have said, you know Jeff Gluck for example, said that the precedent was set back in 2006 when Carl Edwards swiped at me at Michigan and Carl got $20,000 or something like that. Carl’s swipe at me was a T-bone, it was a really hard hit. That fine for him was $20,000. This wasn’t anything like that. … I do like the old throwback idea that if you piss me off enough, I wanna be able to drive up to your car and door you a little bit.”

“… Drivers need to be able to do those things, right or wrong. I’m not saying they’re right choices, I’m not saying it’s what the driver should do. But drivers need to be able to have a little bit of a jab or two, some flexibility. After the race, I’m OK if Bubba goes up there and hits the 48. And I’m OK if somebody goes after Chase or Chase goes after somebody.

“And if they wanna fine them, that’s fine. I don’t think the drivers care too much, you know five, 10, 15 grand. Don’t take points away, don’t truly deter this. Because this sh*t is what’s racing’s about. There’s a line where it’s too egregious, too aggressive, too dangerous and you gotta know as a driver where that’s at and not to cross it. These types of things to me are kind of in our DNA. It’s like the gloves coming off at the hockey match and a couple of guys getting the opportunity to throw a few punches before the refs finally come in.”

Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott incidents the main talking points coming out of Chicago Street Race

In the Wallace incident, he was still upset after Bowman spun him out in Stage 1 and got his revenge after the Hendrick Motorsports driver took the checkered flag in downtown Chicago. As for Elliott, he took a swipe at the side of Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet and then sped up in front of him. He then hit his brakes, as captured from Daniel Hemric’s onboard camera.

The incident between Elliott and Suarez can be traced back to the final lap of the race. Battling for P13 in Turn 11, Elliott made contact with Suarez. That sent Suarez into Brad Keselowski, who went into the tire barriers. On the next turn, Suarez sent Elliott for a spin. Elliott got his retaliation on the cool-down lap and then confronted Suarez on pit road after the race. Both walked away after a brief conversation.