Bubba Wallace issued a statement through his social media accounts Monday night, apologizing for his actions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
On Lap 94 of the playoff race, Wallace contacted the frontstretch wall after close racing with Kyle Larson. Wallace appeared to retaliate by hitting Larson in the right-rear quarter panel, sending both cars into the outside SAFER barrier. Following the collision, Wallace walked down to Larson’s wrecked car and began shoving Larson in the infield.
MORE: Details on crash | Larson: ‘Think twice … next time’
Reflection. pic.twitter.com/ZpamWzjZJR
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) October 17, 2022
In his post-race comments to NBC Sports, Wallace explained his immediate frustration.
“When you get shoved in the fence, deliberately like (Larson) did, trying to force me to lift – the steering was gone, and he just so happened to be there,” Wallace said. “I hate it for our team. We had a super-fast car – not on short-run speed, we were kind of falling back there and Larson wanted to make it a three-wide dive bomb.
“He never cleared me. I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk.”
NASCAR confirmed Sunday that officials will review the entire incident but did not call Wallace to the officials’ hauler.