Bubba Wallace responds after 27-point EchoPark speedway penalty

American race car driver Bubba Wallace has broken his silence and argued that he did “nothing wrong” after the EchoPark speedway penalty pushed his position to 29, despite finishing in 2nd place in the NASCAR race on Monday, July 13.

Wallace made a bold move in the very last lap and swung left on the backstretch and dove underneath two other drivers, Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney. This move by the 32-year-old put all three cars side by side, racing to secure the first spot and the cars stayed that way until the finish line.

Later NASCAR reviewed the footage and determined that Wallace broke the yellow line rule to make his move. He was penalised and dropped from 2nd place to 29th. It is pertinent to note that in-race penalties applied by NASCAR officials are final and cannot be appealed.

Wallace responded to the penalty saying, “It says advancing your position, which I did not do,” adding that he stayed in third place the whole time and was hitting the brakes hard to avoid moving up illegally.

He added, “That move should have propelled me to the lead, and it didn't because I knew it was wrong. I stayed third from the entry of Turn 3 all until 50 yards away.”

NASCAR's rulebook covers this exact situation for superspeedway races. It says a driver gets penalized if they go below the yellow line to improve their position. It also says a driver can be penalized if they push another car below the line to help themselves.

NASCAR ruled that Wallace's move helped him gain a spot, moving from third to second. That was enough to trigger the penalty.