Bubba Wallace clears the air on controversial Atlanta penalty after NASCAR meeting

Bubba Wallace crossed the line in second in the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta in the early hours of Monday morning in Atlanta. On the final lap, however, he crossed the yellow line, and NASCAR penalized him, taking the P2 finish and placing him as the last car on the lead lap, P29. After the race, which featured a 3-hour red flag for rain and an overtime finish, Wallace was upset with the penalty. He and members of the 23XI went to the NASCAR hauler and protested the race with SMT data video evidence. NASCAR upheld the penalty and called the P29 official. On Saturday at North Wilkesboro, Wallace was asked about his feelings now and after the meeting with NASCAR officials on the incident. Wallace clears the air “We’ve got a better understanding of the rule,” said Wallace on Saturday in North Wilkesboro. “To me, I always thought it was like gaining position. But no, it’s gaining track position, which I totally did. So it is what it is. “I thought they would care about the data, that I tried to give it back. But the damage is already done. So unfortunately, here we are.” ‘I put them there’ Wallace was asked about his feelings on the rule. He said that ultimately, he put NASCAR in an impossible position with the call. “I don’t know, I’ve never really been kind of in that scenario. I’ve had a couple close calls. But I will say, as I made the move, and seeing where I was gonna end up, I knew it was gonna put everybody in a bad spot, and that was unfortunate. “At the end of the day, if the 54 didn’t push me at the line, I would have finished third, and I’m pretty sure they said that wouldn’t have been a penalty, so it’s like, I don’t know. “I think NASCAR doesn’t ever want to be put into a situation where they have to make the call, and they always tell us to not put them in that situation. “And unfortunately, I put them there. So all in all, rule’s a rule, crossed over the line, oh well.” NASCAR’s explanation of the Wallace penalty On the latest edition of Hauler Talk, NASCAR managing director of race communication Mike Forde went into great depth on Wallace’s penalty, the rule, and the process. He started with the Wallace comments that he tried to stay in third, which is where he was positioned before crossing below the double-painted line. “So unfortunately for Bubba and anybody, attempting to give the position back does not matter in this rule,” said Forde. “If you race below the yellow line to improve your position, that’s where it happens. “There’s no givebacks like you have maybe in road courses, cutting the course or anything like that. And even that, you don’t really have that rule anymore either. There’s usually stop-and-go associated with it in a designated area. “So, that doesn’t really have anything to do with it. It’s all if you go down (below the line), and we felt, and this is again in NASCAR’s determination … We did determine he did advance his position.” Wallace did advance his position For NASCAR, it was clear that Wallace did improve his position. Forde outlined what would’ve been an even more controversial scenario, especially on the final lap of a track like Atlanta. “[Wallace] advances it in a couple of areas, in our eyes. So, when he goes down below the yellow line and comes back up, he was third. “But at a certain point, if you look at the replays, he was in first. And it’s the last lap. So, if there’s a caution that comes out at that moment, there was a point in time pretty close to that start-finish line where he would’ve been declared the winner. “Now, he would’ve been black-flagged and still gone back to 29th at that point, but certainly, in our eyes, he advanced his position at that point. And of course, he finishes second, and prior to going below the yellow line, he was in third.” Defining ‘advancement of position’ Forde also clarified the argument that Wallace crossed the double line in third and re-entered the track in third. NASCAR doesn’t limit the advancement definition to simply when you cross and re-enter. “Something that I saw was the advancement of the position didn’t happen while [Bubba] was below the double-painted line. That may or may not be true. Looking at the videos, it seemed like didn’t complete a pass or get his nose ahead of it, that does not come into play. “If went below the painted line and eventually improved it and he did that to improve it, and he wouldn’t have got to where he did without going below the yellow lines, that’s really what matters here in this case. “He doesn’t have to actually make the pass while under the double-painted line.”