Dale Earnhardt Jr. eviscerates NASCAR over Bubba Wallace fine

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a massive problem with NASCAR punishing Bubba Wallace for dooring Alex Bowman during the cool-down lap following the conclusion to the Chicago Street Race earlier this month.

NASCAR fined Wallace $50,000 for the infraction, but Earnhardt argued on his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast this week for why Wallace shouldn’t have been fined. Earnhardt brought up that some have said that Bowman had his window net down and his belts either loose or off during the cool-down lap and if that’s true, that should have resulted in him getting a talking to from NASCAR.

“This got more attention than Chase [Elliott] and yes, Chase’s deal was not as egregious,” Earnhardt said. “… They’re saying Bubba hits Alex and Alex hits the wall, OK. We are at a street course, there’s freaking walls everywhere. That oughta be in consideration here. But he had his window net down and his belts off or loose? Wait a minute, I’m driving around the racetrack with my belts off? … Do you fu*king undo your belts when you’re cooling down when you’re driving? Do you pull in the driveway and just pop that belt and cruise on into the garage?

“… Let me tell ya something, that ain’t Bubba’s responsibility. That ain’t. And so, you can’t smack Bubba’s hand for Bowman having his belts loose. I can go to Bubba and say, ‘Hey, man, you know next time, he might have his belts loose. Let’s not do that.’ But I go to Bowman, ‘What the hell do you have your belts loose?’ If that’s even true, that’s hearsay. I’m hearing people say he had his window down and his belts loose or his belts off. I just can’t even believe that he would have that on a cool down lap. He’s still in the car moving.”

In that moment, Wallace let out his frustration from earlier in the race when Bowman spun him out. 23XI Racing decided not to appeal the fine, and Wallace himself took no issue with it.

Bubba Wallace sounds off on fine from Chicago Street Race

Wallace believes the fine is the “best thing that’s happened” to him.

“Penalty was probably the best thing that’s happened to me,” Wallace said this past weekend at Pocono, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I’ve been miserable for years, walking around with a persona that I’m not proud of. I need to apologize to a lot of people, especially that are close to me. … Just frustrated and trying way too hard and not focused on the right things. The door slam, the bump that Bowman said wasn’t hard at all. For the people that for the last four or five years, people have been wanting me out of the sport. But those people don’t really understand that when you put – road courses, let’s talk about road courses.

“How many years have I been terrible at road courses? 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 to 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, we all know messing with switches, you don’t mess with switches in the smallest part of the track, and you have seven or eight caution laps.

“When that’s all ripped away, you feel some time of entitlement to show your frustration. Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100%. His window net was down and his seat belts were off, not an ideal situation. You know, and it’s the guy you’re racing 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, 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.”