The term ‘rage quit’ is video game vernacular for walking away in a fit of anger from an online game while it is still ongoing.
A sponsor of Richard Petty Motorsports and Bubba Wallace ceased its relationship with the driver in real time when the 26-year-old walked away from the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on Sunday from the digital Bristol Motor Speedway.
The race was won by William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports.
Cup Series veteran Clint Bowyer was once again serving as the Fox Sports in-race reporter and was involved in the final incident that led to Wallace walking away.
On lap 11 of the 150-lap race, Bowyer cleared himself on the front stretch and was slightly turned into the wall as a result. He corrected his car, came back around to the other side of the track and door-slammed Wallace.
On the Fox broadcast, when he was lightheartedly asked what happened by Jeff Gordon, Bowyer offered a quip.
“I got Bubba’ed!” Bowyer exclaimed. “I need a beer really badly.”
Simultaneously, an annoyed Wallace declared he was done on his Twitch stream.
“That’s why I don’t take this shit serious. Peace out,” Wallace said.
Bubba OUT. @ClintBowyer #NASCAR #ProInvitationalSeries pic.twitter.com/Oq7ggLBPi6
Fans were critical of the decision, tweeting to Wallace that he “rage quit.” Wallace wasn’t having any of that either.
Bahaha I’m dying at my mentions right now…
I ruined so many peoples day by quiting..a video game..
Bahaha. A video game. Damn quarantine life is rough😂😂😂
Pain relief brand Blue-Emu had agreed to sponsor both Wallace and Landon Cassill earlier in the week. Blue-Emu had served as an associate sponsor of the RPM No. 43 since 2005.
Gentlemen, start your engines!
Watch Blue-Emu sponsored, @BubbaWallace & @landoncassill on the virtual high banks at #BristolMotorSpeedway in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.
Sunday, 4/5 | Food City Showdown presented by M&Ms | FS1, FOX in select markets | 1 pm ET pic.twitter.com/K4LEI2iAtM
The brand took exception to Wallace not resuming the race, terminating their agreement on the spot.
pic.twitter.com/up0NiMwCAA
GTK where you stand. Bye bye Bubba. We’re interested in drivers, not quitters.
Blue-Emu executive vice president Ben Blessing told The Action Network’s Darren Rovell that it was a matter of principle.
“We aren’t sponsoring Bubba anymore,” Blessing said. “Can you imagine if he did that in real life on a track? …
“I used to work in NASCAR and you aren’t going to find the dollar-for-dollar return on investment we were getting on this. We thought this was a blessing in disguise for us. But then you find out that you aren’t sponsoring a NASCAR driver, you are sponsoring someone like my 13-year-old son who broke his controller playing some game where he builds houses.”
Blessing told The Action Network that his brand will continue to support Cassill, who had decorated his office with sponsorship activation to be used for ‘in-car camera shots’ on the nationally televised eSport event.
It’s worth mentioning that Wallace had been involved in an earlier incident and had used both of his quick repair resets, but could have finished the race with a slow repair—possibly even getting back on the lead lap due to the nine other cautions that followed the incident.
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