The judicial responsibility of NASCAR has been under the radar this year. Race results like the controversial Daytona 500 finish draw fans’ ire. But inconsistent penalties add to the entire NASCAR community’s frustration. Bubba Wallace‘s recent Chicago debacle was part of a debate, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. aimed his guns at the higher-ups.

Wallace lost his temper at Alex Bowman due to a mid-race encounter and hence pushed him into the wall on the cooldown lap. The subsequent $50,000 penalty drew a mixed bag of responses. Dale Jr. mostly took Wallace’s side due to NASCAR’s peculiar judgment and his rival’s eccentricity.

Penalty mess makes Dale Earnhardt Jr. cry foul

First and foremost, Bubba Wallace’s colossal monetary fine came due to door-slamming Bowman. Executives argued that Bowman was in a relaxed position and that his wheels came off the ground. This is contrary to Chase Elliott, whose mild moves against Daniel Suarez did not attract NASCAR’s ire. Then Layne Riggs was held for two laps for retaliating against Stefan Parsons during the Nashville Truck Series race. The higher-ups had already talked to him about his questionable moves.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. protested against this mash-up of NASCAR’s series. On the July 17 episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Junior voiced his concerns: “This ain’t a pit road penalty where you got a camera to see. If you’ve got an entirely different group of people, they’re going to look at it and choose differently. We got to stop that. We gonna compare how they officiate a Truck race versus Xfinity or Cup.”

Then Dale Jr. launched into his argument for the 23XI Racing driver. He started off with the unique set-up of the Chicago Street Race. “Bubba hits Alex; Alex hits the wall, okay? We are at a street course, you know, there’s freaking walls everywhere. That ought to kind of be in consideration here.” Then Alex Bowman’s sheer lack of a sense of safety baffled Dale Jr. “But he had his winning it down his belts off, or his belts loose? Wait a minute, I’m driving around the racetrack with my belts off?! …That ain’t Bubba’s responsibility.”

He is spot on in his argument, as they typically wait until they are parked on pit road to unbuckle their belts, detach their HANS device, and do everything else to get out of the car. Dale Jr. drew a neutral stance, saying, “I could go to Bubba and say, ‘Hey man, next time, he might have his belts loose, but let’s not do that.’ But I’d go to (Alex) and go, ‘What the hell do you have your belts loose for?!'”

But he bashed Bowman for his lackluster behavior. “You’re a complete moron if you undo your belts in a racecar at any point—a complete idiot. You gotta stop it, you gotta f***ing admit that.” However, the damage has been done, and Wallace has accepted the hefty fine. Dale Jr even appreciated Bubba Wallace for taking the challenge head-on. This is not the first time Dale Jr has talked about Wallace getting penalized, although the past situation was under entirely different circumstances.

Back when Dale Jr. thought the penalty was too light

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At the moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is throwing his weight behind Bubba Wallace. The reasons are simple: the gray area of a cooldown lap encounter and NASCAR taking advantage of the popular crash videos. However, in the recent past, the veteran driver had called for a harsher penalty for Wallace. In a 2022 Las Vegas race, Wallace hooked Kyle Larson and sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver into the wall. Although the penalty was expected to be severe, NASCAR’s verdict included no docking of points or even a fine, just a one-race suspension.

At that point in time as well, Dale Earnhardt Jr. criticized the higher-ups for their inconsistency. “As an owner, I’ve had drivers suspended from races for this exact same thing. I’ve had them fined. But I’ve seen some things this year that have been inconsistent. I’ve seen some drivers retaliate. I don’t care about the speed of the track, the size of the track. Retaliation. You’re trying to change the mentality going forward for not Cup drivers. They know better. We’re talking about Truck drivers, Xfinity drivers. Have these same sort of penalties.”

The circumstances have reversed, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now trumpeting in Wallace’s favor. However, the 23XI Racing driver can only move on from his mistake, which he is already expertly correcting.