NASCAR insiders baffled by Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman incident at Chicago: 'What the hell was that?'

Fireworks between Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman capped off an exciting Fourth of July weekend in Chicago for the NASCAR Cup Series. The 23XI Racing wheelman was turned by the Hendrick Motorsports driver after a battle for position late in the race in the Windy City.

The duo found themselves racing for position in the top 10 during the closing laps of Sunday’s race. Wallace and Bowman were beating and banging, looking as if either one could send the other spinning. It was Bowman who got the upper hand in the end, sending Wallace around in Turn 2 on Lap 70. Bowman finished eighth, Wallace P28. 

Afterwards, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic tried to make sense of it all. They were a bit baffled by the entire situation, wondering what was going through the minds of both drivers when they came together for another racing incident.

“Alex Bowman defeated Bubba Wallace in quite a bit of a little skirmish there. Let’s talk about Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace. What the hell was that?” Gluck stated, via the latest episode of The Teardown. “… Just in general, why was (Wallace) battling with Bowman there? Bowman didn’t know either. He was theorizing afterwards, was it the In-Season Challenge? That’s what sparked that whole thing at the end there?

“It was weird. …. I don’t think that was the big picture thinking there for Bubba. I think he’ll regret that, and wish he had that one back. That’s a tough one right there.”

While Gluck thought the entire decision from Wallace was a bit of a head scratcher, Bianchi believes it was preposterous. The 23XI Racing wheelman isn’t exactly in a position to give away points, and that’s what he did by getting himself into a scuffle with Bowman.

“It was a driver in Bubba Wallace who cost himself today a lot of points,” Bianchi added. “He was fast in practice. I think he was like the fastest car, right? Then, qualifying doesn’t go his way. Does a great job, picks his way forward. Ends up with contact with Kyle Larson. Gets spun out. (Recovers for) a big points day. A day when you need — you’re in a points position where you don’t have a win and your path to playoffs is on points. He finished 28th, I think.”

“… I don’t know if it’s just in the heat of the moment. You’ve had a frustrating day and you’re getting bounced around again. That’s tough, but you have to rein that in. And it’s hard. I get that. … But he’s in a very precarious spot. There’s gonna be somebody that’s gonna pop up here outside of the (Top 16) you don’t expect. Somebody outside the cut line is gonna win a race. Then, all of a sudden he’s gonna be out, and this is the spot he’s been in for the last few years.”

The one way Bubba Wallace can truly put this all behind him? Winning a race and locking himself into the playoffs. We’ll see if he can do it this summer, but it’s not going to be easy for the Mobile, Alabama native, as we’ve seen over the past couple of seasons.