“I gotta stand up for myself”: When Alex Bowman got infuriated by ‘mad’ Bubba Wallace’s disrespectful behavior
In 2019, Alex Bowman was battling at the Charlotte Roval to keep his championship hopes alive. However, Bubba Wallace flipping him off during the Bank of America ROVAL 400 race soon turned into a feud and Wallace paid a heavy price.
Bowman was running his fourth full-time year in the NASCAR Cup Series while Wallace was a relatively new driver, competing in his sophomore season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver's day kicked off poorly after an issue during practice resulted in a rear-of-the-field start.
Things seemed to worsen for Bowman as shortly after the race went green, he bumped into Wallace's #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet and both drivers spun, attracting penalties for missing the chicane. The HMS driver's move fumed Wallace with the latter making disrespectful gestures several times as he passed the former.
It's worth mentioning that Wallace had displayed his middle finger multiple times to Bowman during the preceding race weekend at Richmond Raceway, which added fuel to the fire.
Seemingly fed up by Wallace's behavior, Alex Bowman intentionally spun out the RPM rival after a fierce door-to-door battle for the lead. It resulted in a disappointing 24th-place finish for Wallace while Bowman saved his title hopes by posting a runner-up finish.
Wallace got frustrated by Bowman's wreck, confronted the driver post-race, and splashed water on his face before leaving.
After being released from the infield care center and encountering Wallace's anger, the #88 Chevy driver expressed his thoughts about his 'mad' #43 rival.
“I don’t know if he was mad about the first lap or what but obviously, that was just a mistake. Then I got flipped over for every single straightaway for three laps. I got flipped off by him for three or four laps in Richmond so I was just over it. I gotta stand up for myself at some point, right? Probably wouldn’t have gotten wrecked if he had his finger back in the car,” Bowman said (via NASCAR).
Bowman couldn't make it past the Round of 12 and wrapped up his 2019 Cup Series season in 12th place.
"Playing the sick card": Bubba Wallace slammed Alex Bowman for intentionally wrecking at the Charlotte Roval
After throwing water on Alex Bowman's exhausted face, infuriated Wallace explained his side of the story as he left the track. The Chevy driver began with the opening lap drama in which the HMS driver ran over the RPM driver, with Wallace later claiming that Bowman 'played the sick card' after the race to avoid confrontation.
Wallace already had a rough weekend compared to Alex Bowman. The former was a non-playoff entry and started 25th, while the HMS driver was in the playoffs and stood second in qualifying. The series of disappointing events frustrated the sophomore driver and tempers flared.
“He don’t like to race. He just runs over everybody. He gets to Lap 1 and he runs over me and the 3 (Austin Dillon) into the back chicane. We’re back there in the trunk, man. Just take it easy for a lap. He had a fast car and he just run over us...Smooth move of playing the sick card so I couldn’t bust him in his mouth," Wallace said via NASCAR.
NASCAR recently slapped Bubba Wallace with a $50,000 fine for intentionally wrecking Alex Bowman during the cooldown laps at the 2024 Chicago Street Circuit for spinning him in the race.