HAMPTON, Ga. — The No. 23 Toyota Camry crossed the finish line in second place just before 2 a.m. on Monday, but it did not remain there on the Atlanta Motor Speedway scoring pylon. NASCAR issued a post-race penalty to Bubba Wallace.
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According to race officials, Wallace dipped below the double white line. Officials deemed that he advanced his position by going below the line, which is against the rules on drafting tracks.
He moved back above the line and went the bottom of a three-wide battle with eventual winner Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar. The three remained door-to-door all the way to the finish line as Blaney nosed just ahead.
WHAT A FINISH IN ATLANTA!! pic.twitter.com/KpYKIe4bzo
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 13, 2026
As a result, the No. 23 dropped from second place to 29th place in the unofficial race results. This meant that he only scored eight points for his position. He added another point by finishing 10th in the opening stage of the rain-delayed race.
This runner-up finish had initially marked a rebound for Wallace, who spun off the nose of Ty Gibbs at the end of stage 2. He slid through the grass but avoided damage. He then spent the final stage racing inside the top three.
Wallace and the No. 23 team contended that he did not advance his position, so they protested the penalty, asked for a review, and met with series officials in the NASCAR hauler for 31 minutes. This is allowed, per NASCAR's Rule Book.
Ultimately, NASCAR kept the penalty in place. Officials ruled that Wallace broke the rule, so he left Atlanta Motor Speedway with a 29th-place finish.
"A penalty's a penalty," Wallace said to gathered media members as he exited the hauler with crew chief Charles Denike and 23XI Racing's performance director Dave Rogers.
Prior to meeting with officials in the NASCAR hauler, Wallace spoke about the penalty to TNT Sports.
"I turned left and got super loose," he told Danielle Trotta. "So just to keep it straight, I ended up (below the line). It's unfortunate. You can go back and look at SMT — I was all over the brakes just trying to give the spot back.
"So, it says 'Don't go below the yellow line to gain your position,' which I didn't. I was still third, and I got a shove from the 54 (Ty Gibbs) to go to second. So technically, no positions were gained in doing that."
Moving forward, the team does not have the ability to make an appeal before the independent three-person panel. They can only accept the penalty and move forward to North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Ok, checked in with NASCAR. The penalty is not appealable to a three-person panel moving forward.
The team can immediately protest after the race, which 23XI Racing did. That could be overturned on review.
NASCAR will keep the penalty in place. https://t.co/gmyVBGBqJV— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) July 13, 2026
