NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace Fined $500,000 for ‘Door Slamming’ Alex Bowman

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #45 McDonald's Toyota, walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Oct. 16, 2022. Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Bubba Wallace, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, was fined $500,000 for retaliatory contact against Chicago Street Race winner Alex Bowman. NASCAR contends that Wallace violated its code of conduct for his actions.

Wallace slammed  into Bowman’s car during the cool-down period after the race in a maneuver called “door-slamming.”

The incident was allegedly in retaliation for Bowman spinning Wallace’s car on a wet track into a wall earlier in the day during a brief period of lack of attention. Bowman said he understood Wallace’s anger and asked NASCAR officials that he not be fined for the door-slamming.

However, NASCAR had a different opinion.

“I’d be mad, too,” Bowman said of Wallace. “I ruined his day. The restart was chaotic. I just made every wrong decision that I possibly could. I was fighting with my windshield wiper switch trying to get it working and I couldn’t get it working. I was focused on that, and missed the corner.”

Bowman, in his seventh full season with Hendrick Motorsports, has eight career NASCAR Cup Series victories, with the latest at the Chicago Street Course, which snapped an 80-race winless skid. He also put himself in a position to earn a spot to make this year’s playoffs.

Bowman is in 11th place in the NASCAR standings, with 553 points, but celebration of the latest victory was tempered by the issue of Wallace.

“I locked all four tires and just slid right into him. I just messed up and absolutely ruined his day,” Bowman said after the race. “I’m pretty hard on myself when I make mistakes like that and I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. The rain delay was a lot of me just sitting there being embarrassed and being mad at myself.”

In addition, NASCAR announced plans to speak with Chase Elliott for his contact with Daniel Suarez after Sunday’s race.

Wallace finished 13th in the Chicago race and currently sits in 15th place in the NASCAR standings, with 476 points, and is battling Chris Buescher (521 points), for one of the final wild card spots in the playoffs.

He is coming off his best finish in 2023 when he reached the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time, advancing to the Round of 12 and placing a career-high 10th in points.

Wallace became the second black driver to win in the Cup Series with his victory at Talladega Superspeedway in the 2021 fall race. He earned his second victory at Kansas Speedway in 2022.

Wallace has six total Craftsman Truck Series wins, becoming the first African American since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott to win a NASCAR race when he went to Victory Lane at Martinsville in 2013.

Wallace did not comment on the fine.

Kyle Larson, who wrecked on the wet surface in Turn 6 in Chicago, is the NASCAR standings leader, with 671 points, followed by Chase Elliott (660) and Tyler Reddick (648).

The Cup Series continues its regular season at Pocono Raceway on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EST.