INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JULY 05: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, looks on from the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 05, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)There was a somewhat controversial no-caution call on Bubba Wallace during Monday’s dirt race at Bristol, Tennessee.
Wallace spun out in the third stage of the race after being close to the top of the leaderboard for much of the afternoon.
However, while some spin outs will result in a caution flag being thrown up, there was not one for Wallace on Monday afternoon. Later in the race, Mike Marlar spun out and received a yellow caution flag.
NASCAR’s Executive Vice President Steve O’Donnell explained the ruling.
“Yeah, I think throughout the race, there were several times when a driver was able to roll off. If they continue, we are going to continue the race,” O’Donnell explained. “Every call is different. Balls and strikes. But from our perspective, if someone can drive off, we’re going to continue to race. If someone stops and we think they intentionally caused the caution, we make that call as well.”
They knew we were there. Not the result @DoorDash or this @23XIRacing racing team deserved after grinding and making improvement after improvement. Heads high, forward progress, we’ll catch our break. pic.twitter.com/7BfrHKOVHp
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) March 30, 2021
Wallace ended up finishing in 27th place at the race, but he’s optimistic about the future.
“Heads high, forward progress, we’ll catch our break,” he tweeted following the race