NASCAR will issue ‘stern communication’ to drivers of all three series before races at Pocono Raceway after restart problems in New Hampshire.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Tuesday morning and answered questions about the multi-car crash during Saturday’s Xfinity race in New Hampshire.
“I don’t think it’s the race – the Cup race or the Xfinity race – I don’t think our guys did a very good job on the restarts, we’ll start there,” Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “And as we unfolded and looked at the SMT data and how it looked visually, we felt like maybe this was happening in the second or third row, where the cars were lying down.
“So as we enter Pocono this weekend, there will be a very stern line of communication with our drivers in all three series – that resting will not be acceptable as we enter the final stages of our regular season and that we go to the playoffs.
The Xfinity incident on Lap 71 began when the field got behind leaders John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith in the first row. It brought together Parker Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements, Blaine Perkins, Mason Massey, Parker Retzlaff, Chris Hacker, Patrick Emerling, Ryan Ellis, Anthony Alfredo and Alex Labbe.
The majority of drivers involved were able to continue the race. Allgaier finished sixth in a damaged Chevrolet Camaro. The cars of Kligerman, Alfredo and Sieg were too damaged to continue.
Sawyer said dwelling on the restart would fall into the category of a restart violation. There will be a black flag for the offending driver and they will have to serve a drive-through penalty.
“Our guys have done a great job this year,” Sawyer added. “I just feel like it’s starting to get a little sloppy, so we need to clean things up before we get into the playoffs.”
All three NASCAR national series are in action this weekend at Pocono. The Truck Series and Xfinity Series will both race on Saturday while the Cup Series will race on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
