After intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson moments after the two made contact during Stage 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR made the decision to suspend Wallace for one race.
He was the first Cup driver suspended for an on-track incident since Matt Kenseth in 2015.
On his return to the track this weekend, Wallace talked with the media outside the 23XI Racing hauler. He described "sitting out" and "not being a part of your normal routine" as the most difficult part of the suspension.
"It’s unfortunate, but I tried to play a different part in the team than I was from the driving aspect and being there for the race," he continued. "Tried to help John Hunter (Nemechek) get the feel that he needed for practice, qualifying and the race. Just sitting out and not being part of your normal routine was the toughest part for sure.”
He believed the penalty to be fair, but expressed his hope that NASCAR be more consistent in the future. He alluded to a couple incidents earlier this year where intentional wrecks resulted in no suspensions.
For example, in the Road America Xfinity race, Noah Gragson intentionally turned Sage Karam, causing a multi-car pileup. The result was a $35,000 fine and the deduction of 30 driver and owner points. In the Truck Series race at IRP, Carson Hocevar turned Colby Howard into the outside wall and received no penalty.
At the Cup level, William Byron spun Denny Hamlin under caution in the Texas playoff race, resulting in a loss of 25 driver and owner points, as well as a monetary fine. The point penalty was later overturned on appeal, but the fine doubled was to $100,000.
“Yeah, I mean I totally accept the penalty and the repercussions that come from my actions. I talked to (Steve) O’Donnell and I talked to (Steve) Phelps and I said, ‘Hey, I’m good with being the example if we can keep this consistent moving forward,’ because it’s happened multiple times this year and it’s something that may continue to happen you know, for other drivers down the road," explained Wallace.
"I definitely learned my lesson, but we have to be consistent with this no matter if it’s here at Martinsville or if it’s at Daytona or Talladega. We have to keep it consistent across the boards and across the series. That was the conversation, it was a good conversation.”
Reflecting on the penalty, he referenced his 'humble pie' tweet and described feeling 'bummed' to be missing the last 1.5-mile race of the 2022 season.
"I hated not being in that race and I was excited, that was one of those races that was circled on the schedule," said Wallace. "Toyotas have been really strong at the mile-and-a-half stuff and really love running at Homestead. I was bummed and legit bummed that I wasn’t racing. I had to put that aside and still help the team go out and grow and continue to gain speed with those two drivers.
"What have I learned? You have to think before you do. In this sport, it’s the heat of the moment type things that get to you. Seeing that and going back and looking at a 10,000-foot view, definitely could have handled everything way different and been in a different spot. I put myself in a bad light, I put our team in a bad light, our sponsors – it’s just something that I’m not proud of, but moving on, moving forward and not allowed to make that mistake again.”
Inside the 23XI race shop, Wallace says he still has the support of co-owners Michael Jordan and Hamlin, but also said of the team: "Just mad at me, which is fine. Just have to go out and get back on the horse and go out and compete. And I think we have a really good shot this weekend at moving forward and getting this all behind us.”
