There were many race leaders pitting under green and fewer than 100 laps remaining in Sunday's AAA Texas 500 when Bubba Wallace's No. 43 car picked up a flat tire and slid around the track.
There was no caution, though, until the car slowly moved down toward the apron and spun into the inside wall, bringing out a yellow that pushed some drivers off the lead lap at Texas Motor Speedway.
A flat tire for Bubba Wallace brings out the yellow with less than 90 laps remaining at @TXMotorSpeedway! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/C5GBCh8RBl
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 3, 2019
MORE: Harvick wins AAA Texas 500 from the pole
One of the drivers who was affected was Kyle Larson, who had pitted under green five laps before Wallace's spin. Larson immediately sounded off about the sequence on his radio.
“Did that f**k us?” Kyle Larson asks. “Pretty much,” says Chad Johnston. “At some point maybe they’ll start doing something about guys bringing the caution out on purpose ..” #NASCAR
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) November 3, 2019
Larson was running fourth before he pitted; he lost a lap because of the caution and eventually finished 12th. After the race, he continued to talk about Wallace's spinout.
.@KyleLarsonRacin says Helen Keller could see that @BubbaWallace 's spin for the caution was bogus #NASCAR
— Lee Spencer (@CandiceSpencer) November 4, 2019
"What really killed our race was [Wallace] spinning on purpose. It put us a lap down," Larson said on NBC Sports Network. "Really helped [eventual winner Kevin Harvick] and really killed us and a few others. You hate to see that and be affected by it. ... Felt like we had a good shot to win up until [Wallace] spun on purpose."
Larson admitted he has intentionally brought out cautions before, according to NBCSN, and placed the onus on NASCAR to dole out penalties when it happens.
"So when it's blatant and that obvious," Larson said, "I think it’s pretty easy for them to notice it and make a call on it."
NASCAR reviewed the spinout and elected not to penalize Wallace, NBCSN reported.
Perhaps trying to avoid controversy, Wallace's team, Richard Petty Motorsports, tweeted a photo of the flat tire (left rear) during the race.
This is the LR that went down, causing @BubbaWallace to spin. Unfortunate luck for the @coverthutto team @TXMotorSpeedway. pic.twitter.com/moZp7ivSKo
— Richard Petty Motorsports (@RPMotorsports) November 3, 2019
Harvick was racing in third when the yellow went out. He went on to win comfortably, controlling the race over the final 50 laps. Wallace finished 24th.
Last week, Joey Logano faced accusations of responding to a flat tire by intentionally spinning out. His caution wasn't reviewed or penalized by NASCAR.
Because there were questions raised, asked #nascar last night if the Lap 459 spin by @joeylogano (which caused a yellow) was reviewed as potentially intentional (which #nascar has penalized in the past).
— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) October 28, 2019
A #Nascar official said it wasn't reviewed and expected no further action.