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Bubba Wallace moves on and accepts NASCAR Atlanta penalty
Bubba Wallace moves on and accepts NASCAR Atlanta penalty
Bubba Wallace is more accepting of the penalty NASCAR issued to him on the final lap of the Cup Series race on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has moved on to the rest of the regular season.
“I mean, kind of have to, right,” said Wallace to a media scrum on Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. “I mean, it is what it is.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWallace was sent to the tail end of the lead lap after originally being scored second because race control determined he went below the out of bounds line to improve his position. Objectively, he did, but Wallace wanted to argue in real time that he ultimately did not improve his position.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“To me, I always thought it was gaining position, but no, it's gaining track position, which I totally did,” Wallace said. “So it is what it is. I thought they would care about the data that (showed) I tried to give it back but the damage was already done. So it’s unfortunate but here we are.”
Here is 13th in the standings and 55 points above the cutline, even though he stood to be 83 up leaving Atlanta. Wallace and crew chief Charles Denike went to the NASCAR hauler after the race to make their case but there wasn’t much of a defense.
“The damage was already done, so it didn't matter and that was unfortunate,” Wallace said.
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Does he agree with the spirit of the rule?
“I don't know,” Wallace said. “I've never really been kind of in that scenario. I've had a couple close calls but I will say as I made the move and seen where I was going to end up, I knew it was going to put everybody in a bad spot and that was unfortunate.
“I mean, at the end of the day, if (Ty Gibbs) didn't push me at the line, I would have finished third and I'm pretty sure they said that would not have been a penalty. So it's like, I don't know. I think NASCAR doesn't ever want to be put into a situation where they have to make the call and they always tell us to not put them in that situation and unfortunately, I put them there. So all in all, a rule is a rule (and I) crossed over the line. Oh, well.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPhotos from North Wilkesboro - Saturday
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Meg Oliphant / Getty Images
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports
David Jensen / Getty Images
William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing
David Jensen / Getty Images
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTy Dillon, Kaulig Racing, Jimmie Johnson
Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club
Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing
Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing, Joey Logano, Team Penske
Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing
Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAustin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing
Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports
Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
Track drying in progress
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