Bubba Wallace recently shared his views on who is responsible for incidents like the one involving Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at Richmond. Dillon destroyed Logano and Hamlin within seconds on the final lap of the previous Sunday’s race to take the win and into the playoffs.
However, NASCAR found a way to cross a line and eventually gave Dillon a penalty that allowed him to keep his win, but stripped him of his eligibility for the playoffs. During a pre-Michigan press session, the 23XI Racing driver was asked if Austin Dillon was the product of a “win and you’re in” mentality. Bubba Wallace said it starts from the beginning, at Daytona media day in February, when drivers are asked what they can do to win a race. This prompted another question for Wallace, this time why this mentality was the way it was, to which he replied:
“It’s the system’s fault. They created this system where you go on adventures, but at the same time we always say: do you have to destroy your mother to win? Of course you do. (laughs) No, you don’t. I wouldn’t do it. Do everything in your power below the respect line to win the race. Now people want to associate (Joey) Logano and (Martin) Truex with Martinsville the same way they did in Richmond. Who are these people? He kicked it off the line, kicked it out of the groove and ran to the line. » [8:50]
Bubba Wallace questions whether Austin Dillon should be suspended from NASCAR
Since Bubba Wallace was suspended for hitting Kyle Larson in 2022, and Chase Elliott was also suspended for his incident with Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace was asked if a suspension was warranted for Austin Dillon instead of the penalty that was “Revenge is revenge, so if we’re going to draw the line there, then yes, but me and Chase (Elliott) were in the middle of the race. This was different. In the same category as revenge, so I think not having a win worthy of the playoff – let’s go more than points and money – is the same thing. Kind of,” he said. [7:50]
Speaking more on the subject to the media, Wallace said that “it’s crazy” that several incidents could be linked to each other. He said you have to remember where you came from, what it took to get where you are and what you have to go through to earn people’s respect.
He recalled his experience in the truck series, where he had to “run harder” because he was a rookie. But Bubba Wallace said things change, start moving forward and earn more respect when the cycle starts again.
Wallace said that once a driver reaches the Cup level, the cycle resets again and from that point it is more up to the driver than others. “You have to win and be respected at the Cup level, because at the end of the day it’s an area that you control. If the officials don’t take care of you, we know how to take care of you,” added Wallace. [10:30]
Wallace has had strong showings in his last two races, finishing fourth in the Cook Out 400 and fifth in the Brickyard 400. The 30-year-old driver is currently 12th in the overall Cup Series standings with 587 points to his name.
