NASCAR star Bubba Wallace has found himself in hot water after he refused to shake hands with the winner of his latest race in Richmond on Sunday night.
Wallace Refuses To Shake Hands
Wallace refused to shake hands with Austin Dillon after the latter came out victorious on Sunday evening. Controversy was sparked when Dillon turned Joey Logano late in the race. However, at the time of this writing, NASCAR has yet to penalize Dillon for the move.
“I don’t know man, it’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had a shot to win,” Dillon said after the race.
Dillon went on to say that he “felt like with two to go, we were the fastest car. I hate to do that but sometimes you just got to have it. I have to thank the good Lord above. It’s been tough over the last two years, man. I care about [Richard Childress Racing], my wife, and this is my first … it means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it.”
‘I Was Gonna Go Shake His Hand…But Not Now…’
Wallace shocked fans after the race by announcing that he would not be shaking hands.
“I was gonna go shake his hand for deservedly winning, but not now…” Wallace said.
“We just got to keep fighting and man, guess you could dump somebody and right-rear somebody and be okay. It’s funny how it works,” he added. When asked about being in the playoffs by three points with three races remaining, Wallace replied, “In by three, got beat by the three. It was a […] move.”
Wallace Still Had A Good Night
That being said, it was still a good night for Wallace. He finished in fourth place, putting himself in a position to clinch a playoff spot. If Wallace wants to keep that spot, however, he will need to keep racing strong for the rest of the month.
“We knew we had to work coming in here, obviously being below and our team did just that,” Wallace said. “We fought hard. Man, we did not have the best day pit road, not from a lack of effort. Appreciate them getting better all night. They showed up when it mattered on the last stop, kept us in it.”
“Our Leidos Toyota Camry was way too loose,” he added. “I tried to bite my tongue from the start of practice, and it was such a handful and it definitely bit us in the race. Kept making it better and better, trying to get the best feedback that I could and just executed all night. I appreciate the effort from my team, nice to walk away here from a top-five finish.”
In Wallace’s last five races, he has finished in the top 10 four times. In the last two weeks, he’s also earned consecutive top-five finishes. Throughout this season, Wallace has earned seven top-10 and five top-five finishes. This has all given him a strong push to compete for a Cup Series title!