American racing driver Bubba Wallace broke his silence and argued that he did “nothing wrong” after the penalty at EchoPark Circuit raised his position to 29th, despite finishing second in the NASCAR race on Monday, July 13.
Wallace made a bold move on the final lap and turned left down the stretch and dived under two other drivers, Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney. This move by the 32-year-old driver put all three cars side by side, racing to secure first place and the cars stayed that way until the finish line.
NASCAR later reviewed the footage and determined that Wallace broke the yellow line rule to make his move. He was penalized and fell from 2nd place to 29th. It is pertinent to note that in-race sanctions applied by NASCAR officials are final and cannot be appealed.
Wallace responded to the penalty by saying, “It says advance your position, which I didn’t do,” adding that he stayed in third the entire time and braked hard to avoid advancing illegally.
He added: “That move should have propelled me to the lead, and it didn’t because I knew it was wrong. I was third from the entrance of Turn 3 to 50 meters away.”
The NASCAR rulebook covers this exact situation for superspeedway racing. It says that a driver is penalized if he goes below the yellow line to improve his position. It also says a driver can be penalized if he pushes another car below the line to help himself.
NASCAR ruled that Wallace’s move helped him gain a spot, moving from third to second. That was enough to cause the penalty.
