NASCAR to scrutinize Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace Chicago altercation amid playoff pressure

As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoff battle intensifies, tempers flared at Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, and a late-race on-track wreck between Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace has now drawn the attention of NASCAR officials. According to NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, the governing body will be taking a closer look at the incident to see if the penalties need to be given out.

In the latter stages of 2025 Grant Park 165, Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace collided multiple times in a fierce battle for seventh position, and while racing hard for the position, the #48 HMS driver spun out Wallace in Turn 2 on Lap 70 of the 75-lap Chicago race. Bowman secured a P8 finish, but Wallace’s #23 car suffered a broken toe link and had to settle with a P28 finish with five laps down.

In the latest episode of The Teardown, veteran journalist Jeff Gluck revealed what he had learned from sources within the sport: that NASCAR is reviewing the Bowman-Wallace incident. Here’s what Gluck said:

“NASCAR will be taking a closer look at Bowman versus Bubba. Yes, they will. That was what I was told. At first I was like, ‘Oh, Bowman just dumped him.’ It looked like Bowman might’ve right-reared him. Then, on another replay I saw, it was like, ‘Oh, maybe Bubba cleared himself across.’

NASCAR’s decision to examine the Bowman-Wallace wreck more closely suggests the sanctioning body is weighing whether the contact was a racing incident or an intentional move that warrants penalties, as both drivers are aiming for a playoff ticket. If Bowman is found at fault, it could mean a fine or playoff points penalty.

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“I thought we had squashed our beef, but clearly we’ve not” – Alex Bowman on contact with Wallace

In the post-race media interaction, last year’s Chicago winner, Alex Bowman, described that his incident with Wallace wasn’t intentional, as he kept pinballing between the #23 driver and the outside wall.

Expressing his thoughts on the late race contact with Wallace, here’s what the HMS driver said:

“I thought we had squashed our beef, but clearly we’ve not. I don’t know. I followed the #45 (Tyler Reddick) past him. He ran me into the inside wall in (Turn) 8. Still felt like I passed him clean, then he absolutely just demolished me into (Turn) 12. I gave it back a little bit into 1, and then he demolished me again into 2, ran me into the outside wall and then I’m just a pinball between him and the outside wall at that point.”

Both the drivers exchanged words after the race. Bowman admitted he misunderstood Wallace’s move until they talked one-on-one and clarified the context.

With only seven races left in the regular season before the postseason, Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace found themselves under pressure to secure their playoff spots, as both the drivers are winless this season. The #48 driver and #23 driver stand 10th and 13th, respectively, in the playoff points table.