NASCAR insider calls out Bubba Wallace for 'race manipulation' at Martinsville

There’s a myriad of controversies taking over the NASCAR world following the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway, and part of the mess involved Bubba Wallace.

The No. 23 Toyota wheelman seemingly slowed down to allow manufacturer teammate Christopher Bell to pass him on the final lap, hoping to send Bell to the Championship 4. It might’ve worked, but Bell rode the wall in the final turn, and NASCAR deemed it a safety violation, penalizing him and sending William Byron to Phoenix instead.

While Wallace wasn’t the only one to commit a questionable act — Chevrolet teammates Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon seemed to create a blockade to allow Byron to keep his position on the track — he’s received a ton of flack for his role in the drama. He claimed his car was on the fritz, and NASCAR is investigating, but his reasoning rings hollow when reviewing the replay.

As the dust continues to settle on the incident, NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck went as far to call out Wallace for “race manipulation” at Martinsville, via the latest episode of The Teardown.

“We also don’t know how NASCAR feels yet about Bubba Wallace. Bubba Wallace was the only car that Christopher Bell could have passed coming to the end there because he was trapped a lap down. He was the second car one lap down. The first car one lap down was Bubba Wallace. Bubba Wallace was significantly ahead of him on the track, but ends up slowing down, slowing down, slowing down, says he has a problem of some kind,” Gluck explained. “Just in going into the last turn, the last lap, Christopher Bell passes him. … Then you have the Chevy thing, which I don’t think that’s as egregious as the Bubba part of this, personally. I do think it’s not great, and I’m wondering how NASCAR will react to it if they do anything. But the Bubba thing there, because that’s really, that’s him slowing down to give a spot.

“I mean, he can say, ‘Oh, my car was broken.’ He slowed down to give him a spot. His last lap there, I pulled it up somewhere. It was like, it was a 24-second-something lap, where everybody was running 21-second laps. Four second differential. So he considerably slowed down. And of course, he can say for plausible deniability, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong with my car.’ He said with three laps to go, he thought he had a flat tire. … So, this is where it gets sticky. … Clearly, the Bubba thing was race manipulation.”

All three drivers, along with Chevrolet and Toyota, may be punished for their actions at Martinsville, but it’s evident Jeff Gluck and many other media personalities believe Bubba Wallace’s role in the matter was especially distasteful.

Time will tell what the result of the decision is, but it’s hard to envision him getting off without punishment, when all things are considered.