Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace make a U-turn after Chicago race beef, both smile for a picture together 

Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace were seen all smiles after their incident at the Chicago Street Race, which knocked Wallace out of the In Season Challenge. Steven Taranto reported the happy pair on X.

During the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Street Race, Bowman and Wallace had a fierce race for seventh place late in the race, also a critical matchup in NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge tournament. On Lap 70, Bowman, with fresher tires, contacted Wallace after exiting Turn 2. Wallace was spun into the wall and severely damaged his No. 23 Toyota and finished 28th, five laps down. Bowman raced on to finish eighth and advance in the tournament, while Wallace was eliminated. Bowman commented on the event after the race (via Motorsport):

"I didn't really expect it when I passed him [Wallace] and we got into (Turn) 12 and he just shipped me, and then he ran me into the fence in (Turn) 1, and ran us into the fence off of (Turn) 2.

"He's just not clear. I don't have anywhere to go. We're going straight and we just got hooked together and he ends up crashing. I didn't really feel like it was necessary."

Steven Taranto reported:

"All smiles for Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace after their run in at Chicago last week"

Professional stock car driver Alex Bowman (born April 25, 1993, in Tucson, Arizona) is a veteran driver in the NASCAR Cup Series who competes full-time for Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman drives the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and has competed at Hendrick since 2018. He competed in the No. 88 vehicle prior to taking over the No. 48 vehicle from former driver Jimmie Johnson.

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Alex Bowman reacts to late race duel with Bubba Wallace at Chicago

The incident drew NASCAR’s attention, with an investigation into whether Alex Bowman intentionally made contact with Bubba Wallace’s right rear tire. Early indications suggested the spin was more a result of Wallace’s own actions rather than a deliberate move by Bowman. He said:

"I thought we had squashed our beef, but clearly we have not. So, yeah, I don't know. I followed the 45, passed him, he ran me in the inside wall on eight. Still felt like I passed him clean. Then he absolutely just demolished me into 12. I gave it back a little bit into one and then he demolished me again into two, ran me in the outside wall and I'm just a pinball between him and the outside wall at that point."

"I get the In-Season tournament means a lot, but at that point I'm just trying to finish the best I can. I wasn't really thinking about that. So, I don't know if that's what it was about or what, but unfortunately that happened," Bowman added. [0:50 onwards]

Following the race, both drivers moved past the incident amicably. Wallace even bought Bowman dinner before the next race at Sonoma, signaling a willingness to let go of any lingering tension.