Mike Forde addresses bracket challenge impacting NASCAR officiating in reference to Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace battle

Mike Forde, NASCAR managing director of racing communications, said on Wednesday’s “Hauler Talk” podcast that they are not officiating races differently due to the In-Season Challenge. Forde brought up the intense battle between Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman in the closing laps of this past Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, in which the two drivers made contact before Wallace eventually went for a spin.

“They don’t. It has nothing to do with that,” Forde said. “I think this is why the In-Season Challenge was created to help build those rivalries and have these types of moments.

“… But no, the officiating side of Brad Moran, Elton Sawyer, John Probst — they’re all officiating the race as if the In-Season Challenge is not part of that race. They’re not changing their philosophies at all.”

Mike Forde reacts to Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman incident in downtown Chicago

Wallace and Bowman faced off against each other in Round 2 of the In-Season Challenge. On Lap 70, they found themselves racing for position inside the top 10. Freddie Kraft, Wallace’s spotter, said on Monday’s “Door Bumper Clear” podcast that from where he was at in the spotter stand, he could not help Wallace much while he was beating and banging with Bowman for nearly an entire lap. He said that Bowman did not right rear hook him. Instead, Wallace “got himself turned around” exiting Turn 2 on Lap 70.

Neither Wallace nor Bowman faced repercussions from the incident. Forde said they reviewed it, and determined it did not warrant a penalty.

“There won’t be any repercussions out of this one,” Forde said. “We did review it and viewed it as aggressive, hard racing. I think the in-car camera was pretty telling… it does show the 23 [Wallace] actually comes on the 48 [Bowman] and that’s how he spun out. So, from the review we did over the last two days, we did not see anything that warranted a penalty or a reaction from us.”