The Nascar Thread

DaveXA said
Yeah, I agree. My only thought there is he didn't really have a choice. I think if he doesn't throttle up, he ends up spinning out of the wall.

I do think he should have gotten out of the throttle a bit entering turn 3. He easily makes it without getting into the wall there. That was just a bad decision by Bell.

I do think he was pushing hard because he didn't want to make it look like he was just coasting to the finish with Bubba slowing up those last 2 laps.

In any case, both Toyota and Chevy giving team orders shouldn't be happening and Nascar needs to crack down on that severely because this is blatant race manipulation which isn't supposed to be allowed.

I looked up the rule and found it in an article from 2022 when Cole Custer basically faked a tire going down at the Roval to try to get Briscoe into the next round. Nascar punished the 41 pretty significantly but didn't punish the 14. But in that case, the illegal act did not alter the final result.

Sections 4.3.A; 4.4.C & 5.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book (Member Code of Conduct/Performance Obligation)

A: NASCAR requires its Competitor(s) to race at 100 percent of their ability with the goal of achieving their best possible finishing position in the Event.

B: Any Competitor(s) who takes action with the intent to Artificially Alter the finish positions of the Event or encourages, persuades or induces others to Artificially Alter the finish positions of the Event shall be subject to a penalty from NASCAR, as specified in Section 10 Violations and Disciplinary Action.

C: “Artificially Alter” shall be defined as the actions by any Competitor(s) that show or suggest that the Competitor(s) did not race at 100 percent of their ability for the purpose of changing finishing positions in the Event, in NASCAR’s sole discretion.

I think for the 24 to be penalized for what the other cars did, Nascar would have to find that the 24 or HMS "encouraged, persuaded, or induced" the 3 and/or the 1 to run the block. There was clearly discussion about it on the radio but teams understanding the points situation and choosing to aid a fellow manufacturer teammate isn't the same thing as being "encouraged, persuaded, or induced" by the benefitting team.

https://www.racingamerica.com/news/nascar/nascar-penalizes-cole-custer-shr-for-race-manipulation