AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Just hours after defending NASCAR’s officiating this season, the series was hampered by an error on the surface at Phoenix Raceway that painted the restart zone in the wrong place for the Truck Series championship .
The restart zone was at least 50 feet in the wrong place for Friday night’s crash-filled race, won by Christian Eckes in four overtimes. Ben Rhodes won his second Truck Series championship.
NASCAR repainted the restart zone overnight in time for Saturday’s activity, which included qualifying for the Cup Series finale and the Xfinity Series championship. No definitive reason was given for the paint in the wrong place and it was back in its 2022 location on Saturday.
NASCAR said it informed Truck Series teams that the restart zone was in the wrong location and chose not to move it before the race.
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The race was lambasted by top Cup Series drivers for its messy completion, which included Carson Hocevar destroying Corey Heim, costing Heim the championship. But the race exceeded the planned distance by 29 laps with the four overtimes, caused by constant falls on the field.
“This is what happens when there are no rules, no refereeing” veteran Denny Hamlin posted on social media. “You get a product like this. “The Show” has taken over American motorsport and that’s why it’s hard to take it seriously.
In NASCAR’s annual State of the Sport address earlier Friday, Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell admitted to taking “a little bit of trouble” when asked about officiating errors throughout throughout the season.
One of the most egregious gaffes occurred in the opening playoff race of the third round, when NASCAR disqualified Ryan Blaney for failing post-race inspection, which would have wiped out his championship chances. A day later, NASCAR said the model used to inspect Blaney’s car was off and his finish had been reinstated — a turnaround that allowed Blaney to race for the Cup title on Sunday.
“I think as a sport I put our officials up against any sport in the world. I would also pit our officials, from an integrity standpoint, against anyone in the world,” O’Donnell said. “When they make a mistake, they don’t hide. They go to the media. They go to a racing team and they correct it. That doesn’t happen in every sport. Do we want everything to be Perfect? We do. But I remind everyone that there is no downtime, that you can’t go back to New York to watch something again.
“You race. Every second of every race you have to make a call,” O’Donnell added. “You have to be able to defend that. They are able to go in and defend the call that they made. If we made a mistake, we will fix it. We want to be perfect, sure, but we’re not going to do everything right. We’re not going to fix everything in 2024 or 25 either. But I promise you it’s in the best interest to get it right.”
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