Long Before he ‘Assaulted’ Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace Lost Sponsor After NASCAR Veteran Claimed he “Got Bubba’d”

Back in 2020, there was a virtual iRacing NASCAR race with several Cup Series drivers. At the Bristol Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace got on the wrong side of veteran driver Clint Bowyer. Later on, Wallace ‘rage quit’ the race, and more or less paid the price for it. This was because the Blue-Emu brand refused to sponsor the driver any further.

Incidentally, the two drivers were side-by-side when Wallace turned Bowyer into the wall. Then there were more collisions between the two that caused a bigger wreck. Bowyer simply quipped, “I got Bubba’d. Gosh! Man! This is worse than real life! These guys forget it’s a 150-lap race. Come on Bubba! Stupid thing!”

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What were the repercussions for Bubba Wallace?

Blue-Emu executive vice president Ben Blessing was furious with the then Richard Petty Motorsports driver. He was especially mad that Wallace decided to rage quit the race. Wallace did not take too kindly to the reaction from Bowyer. Wallace felt the reaction was harsh and said, “That’s it. Thats why I don’t take this sh*t serious”. Then, with a final ‘Peace Out’, he left the game and the stream entirely. Safe to say, the stunt on the virtual track did not particularly impress Blessing in real life.

Blessing angrily said, “We aren’t sponsoring Bubba anymore. Can you imagine if he did that in real life on a track? I ain’t paying him a cent. I used to work in NASCAR and you aren’t going to find the dollar-for-dollar return on investment we were getting on this. We thought this was a blessing in disguise for us. But then you find out that you aren’t sponsoring a NASCAR driver, you are sponsoring someone like my 13-year-old son who broke his controller playing some game where he builds houses.”

Since then, Wallace has sobered up a lot, but occasionally Wallace’s temper has flared up. Case in point: the 2022 NASCAR Cup race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Over there, he tangled with defending champion Kyle Larson in a deliberate move. Later on, he got physical with Larson and got a one-race suspension for his antics.

WATCH THIS STORY: $190+ Billion Valued Bubba Wallace Sponsor, Under Fire After Kyle Larson Incident, Was Refuge Spot For Ross Chastain During 2021 Daytona 500