NASCAR legend hits out at HARSH treatment of Wallace

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has called for Bubba Wallace to be supported after a controversial incident at the Chicago street race.

Wallace 'doored' rival Alex Bowman on the cool-down lap of the race, forcing the 48 car into the wall in retribution for an earlier incident in the race, which saw Bowman spin the number 23 car and effectively ruin his race.

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The incident sparked a lot of conversations from current for former racers, many of whom called for NASCAR not to hand Wallace a punishment – including Bowman himself, who accepted culpability for the issue.

However, Wallace was slapped with a $50,000 fine, much to the ire of his defenders.

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Bubba Wallace has been fined $50,000 for this post-race incident with Alex Bowman. pic.twitter.com/C9GP93C4zC

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 10, 2024

Earnhardt Jr.: Bubba dwells on things like this

Speaking on his podcast this week, Earnhardt Jr. said: “I would say to Bubba, ‘Man it wasn’t that big of a deal'. I would just say to Bubba, ‘Hey, I can understand the emotion, you ran into him.’ A lot of us didn’t think it should have been a fine. I thought 50 grand was excessive. NASCAR has their reasons, I don’t know what they were. I was surprised by that. That was a large fine.

“Put it in the rearview mirror. Make the personal adjustments, but don’t have another thought about it. Maybe in this situation next time he does it differently, great. But otherwise, I think it’s not that big of an issue."

He also discussed Wallace's previous openness about his struggles with his own emotions, adding: “Bubba has shared with us here in this room and everyone else his challenges with his emotions and his mental state of mind. I appreciate being open about that.

"We all probably have more mental challenges and battles going on than we like to admit. But he’s been open about that, and it seems like Bubba definitely does dwell on certain instances like this and maybe makes it a bit larger in his own mind than it is to the rest of us."

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