Kyle Larson has some really good memories around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. From winning his first race for Hendrick Motorsports to winning the most recent one and advancing to last year’s Championship 4, Yung Money has done it all here. However, he also has a few bitter memories, and perhaps his tussle with Bubba Wallace from 2022 takes the cake.
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So what happened that day? The 23XI driver was door-to-door with the then-Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Kevin Harvick when Larson’s Chevrolet dive-bombed both. Luckily, Harvick backed out, but Wallace couldn’t. On lap 95, Wallace was forced to run into the wall.
But it didn’t end there. Wallace gave it back to the HMS star and in the process, both of them veered down the straightaway, dashing against the outside wall, ending both of their days. Even Christopher Bell was caught up in their skirmish and had to settle for a disappointing 34th-place finish.
Unfortunately, things only got heated up after that. Wallace dropped his helmet on the ground, walked up to Larson, and shoved him several times before walking away, fuming in anger. Larson, however, didn’t seem to be in the mood to fight back.
NASCAR suspended Bubba Wallace for his Vegas antics
Some might view it as something that Larson had started, but NASCAR did not. For the officials, what Wallace did after the initial contact was deliberate and deemed a “dangerous act” under NASCAR’s behavioral policy. After investigating the matter, NASCAR slammed the #23 driver with a one-race suspension. As a result, Wallace was replaced by John Hunter Nemechek in the following race at Homestead-Miami.
Interestingly, the penalty was not because Wallace had shoved Larson. Chief Operating Officer of NASCAR, Steve O’ Donnell explained, “When we look at how that incident occurred, in our minds, (it was) really a dangerous act that we thought was intentional and put other competitors at risk.”
Even Wallace’s team said, “Bubba’s actions are not in keeping with the values of our team and partners. We have spoken to Bubba and expressed our disapproval of how he handled the situation.” This made him the first driver to be suspended for an on-track incident since Matt Kenseth in 2015 when the latter was parked from two races for an incident at Martinsville Speedway.
