Almost a week after the Bubba Wallace penalty controversy at Atlanta, the topic is still gaining traction as fans and experts are sharing their verdicts. This time, FOX broadcaster Eric Brennan has questioned NASCAR's consistency while delivering the penalty.

Wallace crossed the double yellow line during the overtime restart, and NASCAR penalized him for doing so. Even though the 23XI driver had lost control of his car in that moment, officials said the reason didn't matter; the rule had to be followed.

On the "Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brennan dissected the incident, saying:

"I hate the rule, and I've hated it for a while. And it's been in place for 25 years. Obvious reasons why it was put in place initially. But the other thing to consider is, you mentioned consistency."

Following this, the FOX broadcaster added how the rule differs in the case of lower racing series, such as the Truck or the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. He then went on to argue that Wallace's move was unintentional, which was proven by the fact that he left rubber marks on the track after losing control.

"I feel like this, along with the lock and bumpers thing we had in Trucks and O'Reilly for so long, was never consistently able to be officiated," Brennan added on the podcast. "I saw people pulling clips from this year where drivers dipped two wheels below the line, did not get called. In this case, Bubba, he left skid marks behind him because he was out of control."

Bubba Wallace went three-wide with Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar after crossing the yellow line. After getting penalized, his final result changed from second to 29th.

He lost a crucial 27 championship points in pursuit of remaining in the Chase bubble. While the 23XI Racing driver still has a 55-point cushion, he remains at risk.

What did Bubba Wallace say about his penalty?

Bubba Wallace defended his stance on his move at the out-of-bounds line. He stated that the moves made during the final lap of the race were unintentional.

Speaking to the media after the race, he said(via NBC):

“I turned left and got super loose, and so just to keep it straight, I ended up there. It’s unfortunate. If you look at SMT, I was all over the brakes trying to just give the spot back. It says don’t go below the yellow line and gain a position, which I didn’t."

Notably, he blamed Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs for giving him a shove from behind, which led to the incident. The two drivers also had a post-race confrontation on pit road.

NASCAR, however, did not say anything on this, but penalized him under Section 8.7.2.A (and Section 8.3.2.A) of the NASCAR Rule Book for gaining a position after dropping below the painted double yellow line.

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Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yash Kotak