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Bubba Wallace explains last lap incident with Christopher Bell at Martinsville

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones11/04/24brianjones_93
Bubba Wallace (9)
Aug 31, 2024; Darlington, South Carolina, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace stands in his pit box prior to practice for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Bubba Wallace explained what happened during the final lap of the NASCAR Martinsville Cup Series Playoff race with Christopher Bell. After the race, Wallace spoke to NBC Sports about the incident.

“I went loose or something broke and he’s nursing it,” Wallace said. “And then he tried to slide me. I’m like ‘Brother.’ Just trying to bide our time and not crash and bring out out a caution. So that was it.”

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Bell was looking to finish strong to clinch a spot in the Cup Series Championship race. During the final lap, Bell rode the wall past Wallace who looked to be dropping back to give the No. 20 car the spot needed on points. Once the race ended, NASCAR reviewed the finish and disqualified Bell for a safety violation. One thing to note is Wallace and Bell are Toyota teammates, so it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that Bubba Wallace helped Bell at Martinsville.

More on Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell’s final lap

The problem is Bell is not going to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship because NASCAR penalized him for wall riding during the final lap. Bell originally finished 18th and tied William Bryon in playoff points. Bell had the tiebreaker over Byron, but the penalty dropped Bell to 22nd place, and Byron clinched the last spot in the Championship 4 over Bell.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bell said. “I understand that the rule was made to prevent people from riding the wall, but my move was completely different than what Ross [Chastain’s] was. I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence. I don’t know what else to say.”

After the race, NASCAR’s vice president of competition Elton Sawyer was asked if he felt like Bell rode the wall on purpose since he said it was an accident. “Yeah, I’m not going to speculate on what Christopher did or said what he meant to do. That wouldn’t be fair to try to make that type of decision based off that,” Sawyer said.

“We looked at the data. We looked at video. We’ve been very clear, based off our conversations with our industry, based off that move two years ago, that that would not be tolerated.”