The Grant Park 165 was a was a frustrating outing for 23XI Racing. Bubba Wallace, who started the race in sixth place, was forced into the wall by Alex Bowman on Lap 25 and ended up finishing 13th. To make matters worse, the 30-year-old was seen door-slamming Bowman in the cool-down lap, which may result in a penalty. But according to Wallace’s spotter, the whole situation could’ve been avoided if crew Robert Barker had taken care.

Bowman emerged as the winner, but the result leaves Wallace’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread as only four spots are left, with the 23XI driver in 17th place with six races left.

Bubba Wallace could be in hot water after Alex Bowman incident

Starting behind Shane van Gisbergen in sixth place at the Chicago Street Course, Bubba Wallace was optimistic about securing his fourth top-five finish of the season. If luck was on his side, the 23XI Racing driver could have even sneaked a win, securing a playoff spot. However, the race didn’t pan out the way Wallace would have wanted, largely due to Alex Bowman. The Hendrick Motorsports driver attempted to clear his windshield on Lap 25, but missed the mark, taking a wrong turn and causing Wallace to spin.

However, according to Bubba Wallace’s spotter Freddie Kraft, 23XI Racing crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker was also at fault for having a questionable strategy. Speaking on the ‘Door Bumper Clear’ podcast, Freddie Kraft said, “We did have a terrible strategy yesterday. We were in front of Alex Bowman in Turn 4 when it was raining. I wish Bootie didn’t put us there, I don’t know what the f*** he was thinking.”

With rain coming down hard, ideally, an earlier stop may have helped Wallace. The incident was a major blow to Wallace, but the No. 23 driver managed to claw his way up to finish 13th, making the best out of a bad situation.

But the story doesn’t end there. With Alex Bowman enjoying his race win in Chicago, Bubba Wallace took his revenge by door-slamming into the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the cool-down lap. The situation may land him in hot water, as NASCAR has said that officials will look into the incident to determine if further action needs to be taken.

NASCAR typically issues penalties on Tuesday evenings, and a possible disciplinary action could seriously impact Bubba Wallace’s playoff hopes. The 30-year-old is currently involved in an intense playoff hunt, having entered the weekend in Chicago 51 points behind Alex Bowman and just outside the playoff cut line.

However, Bowman has defended Bubba Wallace’s actions, saying “He barely hit me. It was fine, and it was plenty deserved.” He even called on NASCAR to not penalize Wallace and appeared apologetic as he said, “I’d be mad, too. I ruined his day. I just messed up. I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. I tried to call him during the rain delay and I shot him a text.”

Talking about the incident further, Kraft agreed with Bowman that Wallace shouldn’t be penalized. “I agree with Alex Bowman, shouldn’t be a penalty. Cannot run into people under caution, cooldown laps especially.”

Kraft pointed out that the race saw a similar incident with Chase Elliott hitting Daniel Suarez in the cooldown lap to back for their wreckage earlier in the race, but there hasn’t been much debate over that.

“Unfortunately for the people that would like to throw Bubba out of the sport forever and ever and ever, it happens every week. It happened twice yesterday, Chase Elliott drives up and doors Daniel Suarez after the yellow flag. I didn’t see anybody crying,” he added.

Irrespective of the comments from Bowman and Kraft, NASCAR could consider punishing Bubba Wallace for unsportsmanlike conduct. Considering that Carson Hocevar was docked 25 points and received a fine of $50,000 for deliberately spinning Harrison Burton under caution during the Ally 400 on June 30, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Wallace could face a similar punishment.

However, “Bootie” Barker- the man who made the controversial call in Chicago- is also a major support system if Bubba Wallace and his fans want to see the #23 car scratch the victory lane and, hence, the playoffs.

Barker could hold the key to turn around Wallace’s fortunes

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He may have got a call wrong at Chicago Street Course, but Bootie Barker was also single-handedly responsible for making one of the best calls that 23XI Racing has seen all year. The 53-year-old has a wealth of experience, having worked at Hendrick Motorsports, Jasper Motorsports, Bill Davis Racing, and German Racing in the past, and is considered a respected figure within the community. So, it should come as no surprise that even though he gets it wrong sometimes, Barker gets it right most of the time.

Speaking about a call that Bootie Barker made during Grant Park 165, which turned the tide in Bubba Wallace’s favor, Freddie Kraft said, “The funny thing is, Bootie made one of the best calls of the year yesterday because we restarted 36th and we were one of the people who short pit the stage, put the dry tires on, and came out and it wasn’t a huge advantage.

“So, Bootie says to me, if we can’t gain nothing, come back down pit road. So nobody pit in front of us, maybe one guy I think pit in front of us, so he says ‘Come down pit road’ so I just assumed we were coming down for fresh dry tires. Like have a little bit of fresh rubber. He put wets on them. And we drove from 36th to 13th in about five laps.”

With a place in the playoffs being the ultimate goal for Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 team, the 30-year-old needs more such calls if he hopes to participate in the postseason.

As things stand, Wallace is in 17th place, 45 points behind Chris Buescher for the final playoff spot. The time for results is now, especially if he gets a penalty by NASCAR for the cool-down lap incident. With NASCAR heading to Pocono Raceway, Bubba Wallace and his team will know that nothing less than a win will guarantee a playoff spot.

Do you think Bubba Wallace deserves a penalty for the post-race incident? Let us know in the comments!