NASCAR hoped it sent a message a year ago by suspending crew chiefs, spotters and competition directors for what it felt was drivers blocking or intentionally losing spots to help a teammate or manufacturer brethren advance to the championship.
NASCAR also changed the rules during the offseason, to wear it could dock manufacturers wind tunnel time and issue other testing restrictions if it feels race manipulation is the result of manufacturer orders.
Will that be enough?
“It’s really difficult to manage,” said 2012 Cup champion and driver/co-owner Brad Keselowski. “You try a deterrence model with penalties. That works to a limited degree. There’s an incentive model outside of that that I think could probably be tuned up a little differently.
“But, ultimately, the format has a large part in it.”
Ryan Blaney won at Martinsville last year in a race filled with chaos at the end.
Drivers are under so much pressure from their team and manufacturer that NASCAR has promised harsh penalties in order to keep drivers from trying to work as a team at a half-mile track such as Martinsville. The teams of Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon all were penalized after that race a year ago.
Teams head to Martinsville this weekend and every driver move and driver-spotter communication will be scrutinized to see if they are trying to block or change the finish at the benefit of one of their teammates.
“There was manipulation at Martinsville across the board [last year],” said 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney, who won that race. ” What happened on the last lap there, there was 25 laps leading up to it with another team that was doing it that didn’t get talked about because of the 20 situation [of Christopher Bell].
“And no one likes seeing that stuff. It’s not pure motor sports to me. And it’s tough because you’ve got the teams or manufacturers saying these things, and as a driver, you’re kind of handcuffed to an extent of like, ‘I kind of need to do what my team is asking me to do.’ It kind of gets into a mucky situation.”
NASCAR formerly had a “100 percent” rule, implemented after Michael Waltrip Racing drivers brought out the caution and lost spots to help Martin Truex Jr. make the playoffs in 2013.
The wording has been changed over the years to prohibit any NASCAR member to not work for their best finish: “Any member who attempts to improperly influence the outcome of the event or encourages, persuades or induces others to do so shall be subject to penalties. … Prohibited actions include, but are not limited to, intentional planning or conduct that prioritizes objectives other than achieving the best possible competitive result for their team.”
A few weeks ago at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, drivers were told to save their tires in a situation where they really didn’t need to save tires. NASCAR didn’t penalize anyone.
“Don’t say anything on the radio,” Keselowski said about what he knows they can’t do. “Apparently, some others maybe don’t know that. But outside of that, I think there’s a lot of leeway.”
NASCAR talked to crew chiefs a couple of weeks ago to indicate that they don’t want drivers being told of other drivers’ points position. But drivers do want to know if the driver they are racing around is desperate because that could impact whether that driver would make it extremely difficult to pass or use retaliation to make a pass.
“I could see how that could be interpreted through NASCAR when they’re listening [to radios] like something shady is happening, but for me, personally, I just like to know what’s going on,” Larson said.v”It allows me to plan my race out, strategize how I’m going to run, and work to, get the best possible finish for me. … I see how it’s a little sticky. I don’t really know how you police it quite fully. There could be good intent or no intent or bad intent, whatever.”
Chase Elliott, as a driver in the playoffs, said his philosophy has been not to rely on help:
“Control the things that I control, do the job that I think we’re capable of doing, over the course of these [playoffs],” Elliott said. “That’s our focus, and that’s what I’m worried about.
“And whoever, whoever gets in, so be it.”
Elliott is in a must-win situation Sunday at Martinsville to advance, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron is in a similar situation but can mathematically advance on points. Same is true for Penske teammates Blaney and Joey Logano.
If any of those four drivers win, Bell and Larson would likely be in a battle for the final championship spot as they enter the race separated by one point.
“It’s been happening a lot longer than I think most people realized and people are just finally starting to talk about it,” Bell said. “I think everything that happens is a product of the format that we’re racing under.”
Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe don’t have anything to worry about this week at Martinsville.
Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin have already advanced to the championship round. A few weeks ago at Charlotte, Hamlin wasn’t told of the points situation to know that if he passed Ross Chastain, it would knock Chastain out of the playoffs. He passed Chastain, and Chastain wrecked him in a futile move attempting to pass Hamlin.
Hamlin indicated if he knew the points situation, he would have done what was best for him — which it could be reasoned is not passing Chastain because that would have knocked out Joey Logano, considered more of a threat at the championship race at Phoenix.
“I would argue that I earn the right to decide,” Hamlin said. “They put themselves, unfortunately, in a vulnerable spot where I get to decide. … We always have those scenarios where we’re picking and choosing who we’re helping.”
Hamlin said last weekend at Talladega he has gotten no clarity on what is allowed and what is not.
“Some of this sensitivity around this is obviously probably gambling focused because I know that NASCAR is very, very sensitive — as they should be — with that to make sure everyone’s getting a fair shake,” Hamlin said the week after Charlotte.
“But on the racetrack, I feel as though as long as you don’t have a bias to one party or another, I don’t know why you can’t make the best decision for yourself.”
And it seems that drivers will do so.
“Should you be allowed to?” Keselowski said about a driver in the playoffs trying to keep someone they see as a threat from advancing. “Whether you’re allowed to or not, you’re going to in this format scenario.
“And I suspect it’ll continue to play out.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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