A history of the Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace beef after flare-up in Chicago

NASCAR brass was definitely salivating at two rivals going head-to-head in this week's bracket challenge. And then even more so when they pulled up to each others' bumpers late in the Grant Park 165. The results for Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace were ... well, not unexpected.

Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman get physical on-track

In the closing laps of the third edition of the Chicago Street Race, Alex Bowman gained on Bubba Wallace and tried to get by him to take seventh place. Wallace wasn't going to let him get by very easily. Wallace drove his 23XI Toyota deep into Chicago's tight turns several times.

Wallace tried to pull across Bowman's bumper once without being clear and nearly wrecked himself. Then Bowman shoved Wallace into turn 1, but they still remained next to each other. All of this playing out, by the way, with five cars stacked right behind them. Wallace tried a similar move of crowding Bowman without being clear a few turns later, but this time Bowman made two rounds of contact, and Wallace went around.

Regardless of who you think is right or wrong, it was a bit of a misguided decision for Wallace to put himself in this position: Bowman finished 8th while Wallace ended up 28th and just a few points from being outside of the playoff picture.

Bowman also advanced past his tournament bracket adversary, and is still in contention for $1 million.

Bowman reacts; Wallace and Bowman exchange quick words

Immediately after the race, fans stood ready for a brawl or some harsh words, but they didn't quite come. Wallace didn't comment straight away, while Bowman seemed a bit confused and annoyed, but not angry.

Bowman told The Athletic's Jeff Gluck that their beef (we'll get to that in a second) seems to be back on. He said that Wallace raced him like a "pinball" between his car and the wall, and felt that most of his efforts to get by were clean. Bowman seemed willing to listen to Wallace's perspective, despite not understanding why Wallace (on older tires) drove him how he did.

And the two did end up getting to have some words...although you can't make out too much.

They don't look like friendly words, but not really angry ones either.

A rivalry with years of history

The origins of Bubba Wallace vs. Alex Bowman reach back as far as 2019.

Bowman (then in the No. 88) cleaned out Wallace (in the No. 43) at the 2019 Charlotte ROVAL race. Wallace said on the "Dale Jr. Download" that he had flipped off Bowman during that race, leading to Bowman's retaliation. Wallace claimed they had several small run-ins over the course of that season that led to the actions at the ROVAL.

"There's a couple of guys on the race track where it's what's up; keep walking ... Bowman, Newman, Almirola ... I don't hate you, I just have nothing to say. No disrespect, we race each other with respect on track ... except for Bowman."

Wallace on 'Dale Jr. Download' 2019

So post-race Wallace gave Bowman a piece of his mind, and a drink of his water bottle.

Flash forward to exactly a year ago at this very race, and Wallace and Bowman exchanged pleasantries again. In the 2024 Chicago race, Bowman sent Wallace spinning under wet conditions - not intentional, but after Bowman won and Wallace finished 13th, Wallace's frustrations boiled over.

Walllace pulled up to Bowman on the cool-down lap, while the No.48 car had its window net down and drove him into the wall.

Wallace was hit with a $50,000 fine for the move, which he apologized for and even said it was a sort of wake-up call he needed last year to adjust his attitude.

"Did I time it wrong? Sure, 100%. Window net was down, seat belts were off. Not an ideal situation. And you know, it’s the guy you’re racing with in the points and then he goes on to win the race. So it’s like icing on the cake, right?"

Bubba Wallace

Is the rivalry back on?

So tensions are back up again — could this multi-year rivalry continue on? The postrace, not-so-fiery conversation seems to indicate not. But Wallace very much seemed to be moving on after his fine last year, and here we are again. Wallace is dancing just above the playoff cut line, so he can't afford to take another hit with seven races to go.

NASCAR goes road racing again next week at Sonoma Raceway. Coverage is on TNT at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.