Bubba Wallace Questions Penalty That Cost Him 2nd at EchoPark Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. — Bubba Wallace questioned NASCAR's call to penalize him for going below the double-white line on the final lap of Sunday night's race at EchoPark Speedway Atlanta.

Wallace was running third, just behind Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney, when he had a big run off of turn two. He took the run to the bottom lane, diving underneath Hocevar and Blaney. He went below the double line but then came back up. 

Wallace crossed the start-finish line in second, just behind Blaney. However, NASCAR ruled he violated the yellow-line rule and sent him back to 29th – last driver on the lead lap.

"I turned left and got super loose. Just to keep it straight, I ended up there [below the yellow line]. It's unfortunate but you go back and look at SMT, I was all over the brakes trying to just give the spot back. It says don't go below the yellow line and gain your position. I didn't. I was still third and I got a shove from the 54 to go to second so technically, no positions were gained in doing that. Again, SMT data shows me trying to give it back but the 54 [Ty Gibbs] just shoves us high here," Wallace told TNT.

Roundtable reached out to NASCAR for clarification on the call and if Wallace's 23XI Racing team could appeal it.

"In NASCAR’s view, the 23 violated it… he went below the double white line to improve his position. The team could protest the call, which they did, but there’s not appeal process for in-race penalties," a NASCAR spokesperson stated.

A NASCAR spokesperson referred Roundtable to the warning that drivers receive in the driver's meeting video sent to media members each week. Roundtable reviewed it and verified this verbiage the spokesperson cited:

"Drivers, this is your warning. Race above the double white line. If, in NASCAR's judgement, you go below the double-white line to improve your position, you'll be black-flagged."

Wallace and his 23XI Racing team met with NASCAR in the hauler. While it's unclear what happened in the hauler or with presenting the SMT data, a NASCAR spokesperson said race control believed it was "clear that 23 went below the yellow line to improve position."

Around the same time Wallace found out about the penalty, he and Ty Gibbs exchanged words on pit road after the race about the bump – and Gibbs spinning Wallace at the end of the second stage.

"He had an opportunity to, uh, give there a lot. He didn't do that," Wallace told TNT. "So when I told him that, he quickly went on the defense and said, 'Don't block.' You hit me square on the bumper and you just ran right into me so the block was clean.

"But yea, that's Toyota teammates. They don't race very well together."

With the penalty, Wallace only dropped from 12th to 13th in the points standings. However, he dropped from 82 points above the Chase cutline to 55 above.

Just 55 points above the cutline, Wallace is still on the bubble with six races to go until the Chase.