LONG POND, Pa. — Bubba Wallace and his wife have a baby on the way and a mortgage to pay off their house. So when Wallace met the media pack at Pocono Raceway, he decided he’d open it up with a question.
“Who got the money?” he joked.
Wallace was a little lighter on the wallet this week after NASCAR fined him $50,000 for retaliatory contact against race winner Alex Bowman on the cooldown lap of the Chicago Street Race.
Wallace rammed Bowman’s car and sent it into a wall.
The move cost Wallace, of course – and yes, driving for Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing team, he could pay the fine. More than that, Wallace said the incident opened his eyes to the fact that he really wasn’t acting like the person he wanted to be on the track.
“The penalty was probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Wallace said Saturday. “I’ve been miserable for years.”
Wallace, 30, has long opened up about dealing with depression, which was sparked by personal and professional struggles. Known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, Wallace admits he hasn’t been a beacon of joy on the track since it’s been almost two years since his last Cup Series victory. He started 29th in the No. 23 Toyota on Sunday at Pocono.
“I’ve been walking around with a persona I’m not proud of,” Wallace said.
Wallace apologized for his recent behavior to everyone from his publicist to the reporter he brushed off last week to Bowman and even the NASCAR official who told him about the fine.
“I’m just frustrated. I tried way too hard,” said Wallace. “I’m not focusing on the right thing.”
Wallace has struggled with his role as a change agent in NASCAR after pulling off a successful push to help the industry ban the Confederate flag in 2020. He is seen as a hero to some, especially those who have longed for Black drivers to shake it off. in sports mainly white. To others, Wallace represents something else, and he’s seen plenty of hate on social media throughout his career.
“For the last four or five years, people have wanted me out of the sport, haven’t they?” Wallace said. “People don’t really understand.”
Wallace found a surprising source of advice this week when he bumped into retired NASCAR great Kevin Harvick. Wallace is set to race with Harvick in the grassroots series as they talk about the Bowman incident and NASCAR fines. Long one of NASCAR’s most outspoken drivers, Harvick told Wallace to show up at Pocono “with a smile on his face and accept it.”
“I may not agree with the punishment, but I smile about it,” Wallace said. “He also told me a lot of powerful things. To show up and be a happy person throughout the week. I think this is one of the most important things for me. People don’t see who I am. It’s really Sunday That broke me.
“I always preach about being the same person on and off the racetrack. It’s a pressure cooker at the Cup level, right? And the last four years, I’ve been miserable just trying to walk around like everything’s OK.”
Wallace insisted that his overall mental health was poor. But he says he has someone else to apologize to: his wife, Amanda.
“I’m not the best husband,” he said. “I made them feel like they had to walk on eggshells after a bad race. It’s not about that. It’s about going home and getting a new reset and being close to the people around you. That’s what I want.”
Wallace said he deviated from his mediocre self on the track because he always felt the need – even with two Cup wins – to prove himself as an individual.
He laughed when he said he blamed his father — with whom Wallace said he had a complicated relationship over the years — who told him not to start trouble but always solve it, if necessary.
An eye for an eye.
Like in Chicago.
Some dissatisfaction was shown after the race. #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/3RBHcl5utY
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 8, 2024
Bowman said after the race in the rain of Chicago, where he spun Wallace on Lap 25, that retaliation was guaranteed. Bowman also advocated that Wallace should not be punished and that he has “every right” to be angry.
Wallace’s window net was down when he slammed into Bowman after the race, and a camera inside Bowman’s car showed the driver jostled by the hit.
“Am I timing it wrong? Absolutely, 100%,” Wallace said. “The window nets were down, the seat belts were off. Not a good situation.”
Denny Hamlin, who owns the 23XI with Jordan, said he believes NASCAR paid the fine because the dust was caught on camera. He did not discuss the matter with Wallace.
“I think it’s live and everyone who sees it, it probably causes a social media frenzy, which then reacts,” Hamlin said.
Wallace is chasing a spot in the NASCAR playoffs with six races remaining. He is 45 points behind Chris Buescher for the final spot in the 16-rider field. A win gets them an automatic berth.
Harvick told Wallace to take a breath because the penalty could have been worse. Heavier fines. The points are reviewed. A delay.
Compared to the alternative, maybe shelling out $50,000 isn’t so bad — though Wallace jokes that home improvements will have to wait.
“I told my wife, hey, we might have to delay in the nursery,” Wallace said. “I have to pay this fine first.”