Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke up in defense of Bubba Wallace after the polarizing racer was fined an eye-popping $50,000 for an incident on the track earlier this month.
NASCAR levied the fine against Wallace for retaliatory contact against race winner Alex Bowman on the cooldown lap of the Chicago Street Race.
In a complex analysis of the events, Earnhardt explained how he understood Bubba’s actions, thought the fine was a little steep, and offered advice on what he could do moving forward.
“I would say to Bubba, ‘Man it wasn’t that big of a deal,'” he began. “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.”
Dale Earnhardt Speaks Up For Bubba Wallace
Two things appear to be true when it comes to everyone’s response to the fine NASCAR hit Bubba Wallace with. One, yes he does tend to get overly emotional in the course of the sport. And two, the fine was a little ridiculous.
Even Bowman himself stated Wallace’s reaction was fully understandable. Bowman, who advocated against Wallace being punished, admitted the retaliatory act was warranted due to his having spun his car earlier in the race.
Wallace got him back when he door-slammed Bowman’s car and sent it into the wall. They seem to agree it was just a little unwritten code. Like pitching inside after a guy hits a home run off of you.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., seemingly hinting at concerns that Bubba might escalate or at the very least hold onto his frustrations, urged him to instead move on.
“Put it in the rearview mirror” he advised. “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.”
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Bubba Wallace Tends To Dwell On Things
Further expanding on that thought, Dale Earnhardt Jr. points to the fact that Bubba Wallace has a history of not being able to let go of things and move forward.
“Bubba has shared with us here in this room and everyone else his challenges with his emotions and his mental state of mind,” he said. “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.”
Wallace has been public with his bouts of depression and anxiety, according to the Associated Press, who says he “hasn’t been a beacon of joy at the track” since his last victory some time ago.
The fine, he contends, is actually helping him with that. It’s opened his eyes so to speak.
“The penalty was probably the best thing that’s happened to me,” Wallace said. “I’ve been miserable for years.”
He even joked with reporters asking them, “Anybody got any money?”
Earnhardt went on to say that Wallace has “always been emotional” when it comes to racing. Let’s hope he harnesses it into some positive emotions from here on out.
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