Bubba Wallace Suspended from NASCAR Championship Race After Kyle Larson Incident

NASCAR has suspended Bubba Wallace from Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway following his altercation with Kyle Larson in the South Point 400 last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it announced Tuesday.

In a statement, NASCAR said Wallace violated several sections of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct, including "intentionally wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result."

After Larson nudged Wallace into the wall during the South Point 400, the 23XI Racing driver followed Larson down the track and hit the right rear of his car in retaliation, sending him spinning into the outside wall.

After both drivers came out of their cars, Wallace threw his hands up, began yelling at Larson and shoved him multiple times before the two were separated.

Immediately after the race, Wallace expressed frustration with Larson while speaking with NBC Sports, per NASCAR.com:

“When you get shoved in the fence, deliberately like [Larson] did, trying to force me to lift—the steering was gone, and he just so happened to be there. I hate it for our team. We had a super-fast car—not on short-run speed, we were kind of falling back there and Larson wanted to make it a three-wide dive bomb.

“He never cleared me. I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk.”

Larson told reporters that he wasn't surprised Wallace retaliated, saying, "He had a reason to be mad, but his race wasn't over until he retaliated."

After having some time to reflect on the incident, Wallace issued an apology on social media:

Wallace did not qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, while Larson was eliminated from the postseason after finishing 35th in the Round of 12 elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9.

Joey Logano, who won the South Point 400, was the first driver to qualify for NASCAR's championship finale. He is in first place with 4,084 points. Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin round out the top four.

The Round of 8 will continue Sunday with the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Martinsville Speedway race on Oct. 30 will finish off the Round of 8, and the Championship 4 is set for Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.