A new report suggests that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace may have falsely claimed that his steering was broken when he slammed into the side of another NASCAR driver during a race Sunday.
The incident happened during Stage 2 of the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Wallace, who won Stage 1, was next to driver Kyle Larson when Larson attempted a three-wide pass.
Larson moved up the track and his car gave a slight tap to Wallace’s car, causing Wallace’s car to brush up against the wall. After brushing up against the wall, Wallace bounced into Larson’s car and then continued by tracking Larson’s car down the track and slamming into the rear of his car, causing both cars to spin out.
Multiple reports said that the move by Wallace to spin out Larson’s car appeared to be intentional. NASCAR could penalize Wallace if they believe that his actions were deliberate.
During an interview after the crash, Wallace was asked if he retaliated against Larson by intentionally slamming into his car, causing both cars to spinout.
“Steering was gone,” Wallace claimed and then smirked, “he just so happened to be there.”
However, Insider noted in a report that NBC’s on-screen telemetry of Wallace’s car “seemed to disprove Wallace’s defense” because measurements showed that Wallace was “all the way down on the gas just before hitting Larson” which the report said would “not have been expected if he did not have control of the steering.”
After both cars came to a stop, Wallace got out of his car and physically attacked Larson, who is smaller than Wallace.
Wallace’s outburst sparked calls for him to be suspended or face potential criminal charges.
Hundreds of accounts on social media called out Wallace’s top sponsor, McDonald’s, and challenged the fast food company to reconsider its decision to sponsor him.
“Bubba Wallace tried to kill a guy during a race yesterday because he was angry,” The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh tweeted. “NASCAR went along with that garage door pull stunt a few years ago and created a cry baby self-entitled monster in the process. Yet another overgrown man child who has never been told no in his life.”
“He rammed his car into someone going 180 miles an hour. It’s not bumper cars,” Walsh added. “You could easily kill someone doing that.”
He rammed his car into someone going 180 miles an hour. It's not bumper cars. You could easily kill someone doing that.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 17, 2022