CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drama continued to surround NASCAR ahead of the championship-deciding season finale as the sanctioning body fined $600,000 and suspended nine members of three different teams Tuesday for alleged race manipulation at Martinsville Speedway.
The sanctions were imposed after a Controversial final battle Sunday on the Virginia track in which Christopher Bell initially advanced to the final four of the championship, but his decision to hit the wall and use it to build momentum violated a prohibited safety rule and was denied.
That gave the final spot in this week’s finale at Phoenix Raceway to William Byron.
But NASCAR made clear in disqualifying Bell that it would carefully review the actions played by other drivers in the sequence of events as Bell and Byron battled for the final championship four spot.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, appeared to point out that punished drivers Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace were lucky not to be suspended.
“In this case, we wanted to focus more on team leadership, which we haven’t done in the past,” Sawyer said. “But I promise you that doesn’t rule out moving forward. We have meetings coming up this week with our drivers and we will make this point clear to them and we will make it very clear to them that when you do anything that is going to compromise the integrity of our sport, we are going to respond.
Drivers have been warned since a 2013 scandal that they are required to give 100% at all times and not participate in any race manipulation. This stemmed from the final race of this season’s regular season when Clint Bowyer deliberately spun to start a sequence of events that gave teammate Martin Truex Jr. the final playoff spot.
Truex was kicked out of the playoffs – the scandal ultimately caused Michael Waltrip Racing to shut down – and Jeff Gordon was added as an unprecedented additional driver because he had been deprived of the chance to compete for playoff position. It was after a weekend of crisis meetings between NASCAR and the teams during the opening race of the playoffs that NASCAR took its rule 100%.
But the handling rule is openly flouted at Daytona and Talladega, where the manufacturers’ cars all work together during the draft and when drivers make their pit stops. There is no sanction yet for these cases.
In the latter case, Toyota NASCAR driver Wallace faked a flat tire in order to give Bell room to swerve and hit the wall. The wall straddle move was banned after Chastain did it in 2022 to win the final playoff spot.
In Byron’s case, NASCAR ruled that Chastain and Dillon both interfered to help fellow Chevrolet Byron not lose any track positions that would cost him a championship spot.
Sawyer said the sanctioning body had considered taking action against manufacturers Chevrolet and Toyota, but nothing in the settlement would require the manufacturers to be punished. NASCAR also planned to meet with executives from Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota to discuss the situation.
With the sanctions handed down the week of the season finale, teams have until Wednesday afternoon to request an expedited appeal. The appeals would likely be heard on Thursday.
Trackhouse Racing, which fields Chastain’s Chevrolet, said it would appeal, as did 23XI for Wallace’s Toyota.
“We are confident that we did not commit any infractions during Sunday’s race,” 23XI said in a statement. The team is currently involved in lawsuit against NASCAR on the charter system and Tyler Reddick will race for the Cup Series title on Sunday.
The sanctions imposed were as follows:
Ross Chastain
A $100,000 fine for Chastain, a $100,000 fine for Trackhouse and one-race suspensions for team principal Tony Lunders, crew chief Philip Surgen and observer Brandon McReynolds. Chastain is the reigning winner of the race in Phoenix. The team also lost 50 points.
Austin Dillon
Dillon was fined $100,000, as was Richard Childress Racing. One-race suspensions were handed down to team principal Keith Rodden, crew chief Justin Alexander and spotter Brandon Benesch. The team also lost 50 points. Richard Childress Racing also said it would appeal.
Bubba Wallace
Wallace was fined $100,000, as was the 23XI. The one-race suspensions were imposed on team principal Dave Rogers, crew chief Robert Barker and spotter Freddie Kraft. The team also lost 50 points.
Sawyer had said Sunday that NASCAR would examine the finish at Martinsville to see if there had indeed been race manipulation with rival drivers helping others aligned with the same manufacturer.
But he added that he hoped the sanctions would be tough enough to curb manufacturer alliances and race manipulation.
“We looked at the most recent penalty that we had written for a very similar infraction…we wanted to increase that one,” Sawyer said, “and we did that. We did that by including leadership team and that’s something we wanted to make clear that it’s a responsibility of all of us…to maintain the integrity of the sport.
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