Alex Bowman punched his ticket into the playoffs with a win in the NASCAR Chicago Street Race on Sunday evening, but there will likely be fallout after a postrace incident involving his vehicle and the No. 23 car of Bubba Wallace.
During Sunday’s race, Bowman clipped Wallace’s car on the 25th lap, causing it to spin out and collide with the wall. Wallace ended up finishing in 13th place, while Bowman snapped an 80-race winless drought with his triumph.
As the cars approached Turn 12 on the circuit during the cooldown lap and were preparing to turn onto Columbus Drive, Wallace pulled up alongside Bowman’s vehicle and hit the door of the car with his front-left tire, a maneuver known as “door slamming.”
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Bowman addressed the situation in victory lane, apologizing to Wallace’s team for the earlier incident.
“I have to apologize again to the 23 guys,” he said during the postrace interview with NBC. “I just messed up and was trying to get my windshield wiper on and missed a corner and ruined their whole day. I hate that and I’m still embarrassed by that.”
Bowman had not won a race since 2022, and his triumph not only was his first in 80 races, but also punches his ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He also completed a fascinating feat, as he won the final race at Chicagoland Speedway in 2019 for his first career victory in the Cup Series.