Nascar officially introduced rules to penalize his OEM partners at the beginning of the month, and the three companies expressed an understanding of what changes aim to accomplish before Daytona 500 on Sunday.
But we don’t expect it to come into play in Daytona. Nascar has never monitored the manufacturer’s alliances on superspeedways where writing and teamwork are essential to success. The magnifying glass will be released at other events after rules were written in the NASCAR rules book due to the manipulation of the race which took place in Martinsville Speedway in October.
Last fall, the pilots and teams of Chevrolet and Toyota were penalized for helping the contenders for the manufacturers’ championship. Some Chevy drivers have become William Byron’s blockers instead of trying to make a pass, and Bubba Wallace abandoned a position to Christopher Bell.
“We are aligned in these expectations,” said Tyler Gibbs, president of Toyota Racing Development. “There are a lot of scenarios that you just can’t plan. I think we know where this line is, and it is in a different place for the different types of running. So, I think we are good.”
There are several potential violations in the Book of Rules. The one concerning the elimination of what happened in the fall is “the violation of the performance obligation”.
The section on the performance obligation states that “any member who tries to unduly influence the result of the event or encourage, persuade or encourage others to do so must be subject to penalties … Prohibited actions include, but without limiting themselves, intentional planning or driving which gives priority to objectives other than achieve the best competitive result possible for their team.”
Mark Rushbrook, World Director of Ford Performance, said: “We understand principles.”
Martinsville left Nascar on review for almost 30 minutes to decide who took the last place in the championship 4. The Byron and Bell teams were left standing in the limbo on Pit Road, and the debate raged on what had happened. The penalties were announced in the days leading to the championship race, and the manipulation of the race and the integrity of the championship were conversation subjects during the weekend of the championship.
“We understand the spirit of what the rule is trying to do,” continued Rushbrook. “You can never – sit here or in a carrier – fully cross each scenario that can happen because of what it is, but I think that understanding and alignment with principles, and understanding it will be different in a superspeedway vs a short path, I think we know what to do.”
Nascar had no rules previously authorizing the penalties to be deducted from his OEM partners. The teams and drivers, as happened after Martinsville, was penalized. Before Martinsville, the most recent penalty delivered to a team was in 2022 after the race by Charlotte Roval. It was quoted as a modifying the race when Cole Custer slowed down on the last round and hampered the other drivers while the teammate Chase Briscoe advanced.
“I think we have had a lot of dialogue,” said Eric Warren, executive director of GM. “We are all competitors. We want to compete. When you look at the shopping, this forces you to put railings.
“I think each situation is complicated, of course, and things arise that you did not expect and that you have to discuss. It’s a bit uncomfortable that sometimes tries to think of all these scenarios, but that is part of high -level principles and competition. These are just things we have to face. We understand the principles, I think we are all.
