Bubba Wallace Lashes Out at NASCAR’s Controversial Roval Ruling in 8 Words as William Byron Survives It

NASCAR’s governing body has been under much criticism about their charter agreement deal. Not all teams were happy with the terms of the contract but when the deadline was approaching near, many teams signed the document. Out of all the 15 teams that race on the NASCAR grid, only two teams did not meet the deadline and the situation has escalated drastically.

When it became clear that NASCAR was not interested in negotiating with the teams, 23XI and Front Row Motorsports then decided to take things a step further and file an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR. While this news has been making headlines for over a month now, Bubba Wallace thinks he is also being treated unfairly in terms of the Charlotte Speedway penalty.

NASCAR’s decision to penalize Bubba Wallace but not William Byron

Michael Jordan was not happy with the terms of the charter contract and when he decided to negotiate them with NASA, he was shut down. So as a sign of rebellion, his team 23XI Racing skipped the deadline for the agreement with hopes of a chance to re-negotiate the terms. But when NASCAR shut them down, they knew it was time to get serious. However, it was not just the 23XI Racing team that escalated the issue, as Front Row Motorsports joined Jordan to find a middle ground. As the anti-trust lawsuit makes headlines, Bubba Wallace felt a ruling slighted him during the Charlotte race.

At the Bank of America Roval 400, all the drivers were called for a meeting to go over the rules of the road course track. NASCAR made a statement at the meeting telling the drivers, “You will be judged as missing or short-cutting any turn previously described when all four tires are on the non-track side of the red and white rumble strips (blue area) that define the apex of the turns.” This regulation came in light of several arguments, particularly about Turn 7, where drivers were worried a last-ditch move on the inside outside the track limits would cause a crash.

Despite sitting through the explanation, Bubba Wallace ended up cutting the front stretch chicane, which led to a penalty for the driver. However, when William Byron followed the No. 23 Chevy on his path, no penalties were issued to the Hendrick Motorsports driver. When Bubba Wallace heard about the penalty issued to him for cutting the curb, he was left flabbergasted by the governing body’s decision and spoke on the radio, saying, “I have no f****** idea where to run; this is f****** b*******.” 

Because Hendrick Motorsports, a team with a long legacy in NASCAR, did not get a penalty for following the same actions that penalized Wallace, many were unhappy with how NASCAR called the shots. It was obvious that Bubba Wallace felt frustrated, but fans did not like to see the apparent partiality when it came to rules. Because Bubba Wallace’s team is suing NASCAR, its fans have started to point a finger at NASCAR for making unfair judgments to spite the team. It is important to highlight that NASCAR took action on Alex Bowman, another Hendrick driver, whose car was underweight. NASCAR’s ruling to disqualify the driver from the race led to his exit from the round of 8.

Although it might not be why NASCAR decided to penalize Bubba Wallace, seeing another driver get away by pulling off the same maneuver has many wondering about the integrity of the sport. Talks about favoritism have been popping up in the community, and yet again, NASCAR has found itself in a tough position. Although many are supporting Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing for the move, a NASCAR insider had more to say on the issue.

Steve Letarte’s take on Wallace’s maneuver

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Steve Letarte, an NBC Sports NASCAR reporter, explained why the penalty was given to Bubba Wallace, while William Byron stayed in the clear. Explaining where Wallace went wrong, Letarte explained, “So basically, these tires have to touch this area [the curb]. They have to stay on the red and white, your left side tires. Once they get too far off the racetrack, once you can see that blue curbing between the red and white curbing and the car, that means all four tires on the non-racetrack side of the chicane. That is clearly a shortcut for Bubba Wallace.”

While Letarte had something to say about Wallace’s driving, he kept William Byron out of the conversation. As of now, the debate surrounds William Byron and whether he should have been given the same stop-and-go penalty. Some fans believe that his tires were on the curb instead of being a little off it. As per NASCAR, the established rule was, “If the vehicle goes straight in the front straight chicane, the vehicle must perform the stop and go on the apron, driver’s left, before the start/finish line, or driver’s right at the back straight chicane on the lap, the violation is announced.”

Unlike Bubba Wallace, William Byron is in the playoffs and every race matters to him for the championship. With the Roval being the last race in the round of 12, we will get to see how the top 8 drivers try to clutch the victory. Considering the way NASCAR made the call at Roval, do you think that William Byron deserves a penalty too? If not, why so? Share your thoughts in the comments below.