It appears NASCAR has finally listened to the radio chatter of Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Austin Dillon, with their respective crew chiefs and spotters, and has chosen to act on it.
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Yet, how the teams were penalized has left fans disgruntled, feeling that everyone from the drivers to the manufacturers had a hand in the chaos during the final lap at Martinsville. Hence, a selective penalization isn’t fair.
A journalist from Frontstretch observed that the radio communications of the final stretch at Martinsville showed that the maneuvers by the #3 and #1 teams were intentional and coordinated. He highlighted, “Does the 1 crew chief know the deal?” – radio chatter from the 3 teams that NBC just played.”
On the other hand, Wallace was caught on his radio saying, “God forbid if we don’t help a f**king JGR car.” The comment cued his crew chief, Bootie Barker, to instruct Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, to keep the #23 driver informed about Bell‘s position, urging him to fall in line behind the #20.
As the race drew to a close and the white flag waved, Wallace dialed back his speed by about 2.4 seconds, enabling the #20 JGR driver to bridge the distance as they hurtled toward the final turn of the last lap.
Now, with NASCAR gathering sufficient evidence of the teams’ tactics, the promotion decided to penalize the individuals found to violate the ‘Member Code of Conduct’.
Besides that, Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass reported that the involved teams and drivers were hit with hefty penalties—$100K fines and a deduction of 50 points each. Suspensions within the teams affected Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen, competition executive Tony Lunders, and spotter Brandon McReynolds.
For Dillon – crew chief Justin Alexander, executive Keith Rodden, and spotter Brandon Benesch; and for Wallace – crew chief Bootie Barker, executive Dave Rogers, and spotter Freddie Kraft were suspended.
However, the fans were not in agreement with the penalties imposed, arguing, “Why penalize the spotters and crew chiefs? They have clearly been given orders from higher up the chain (either Chevy or Toyota) to do this on behalf of other manufacturer teams. This won’t disincentivize the manufacturers from manipulating going forward.”
NEWS: The Nos. 1, 3, and 23 teams have been penalized for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct at @MartinsvilleSwy.
The crew chief and spotter of each car, as well as a team executive from each organization, have been suspended for this weekend’s race in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/rMY7TAiFS7
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 5, 2024
Some fans outright mocked the decision, with remarks like “This is such a joke” and “You are at an all-time high with these got-damn jokes. Actually hilarious at first, now it’s quite embarrassing.”
Another lamented, “What about Byron or Bell, this doesn’t fix anything at all and just allows this to happen next year and the year after.”
NASCAR veteran voices his criticism on the Martinsville race
Mark Martin, a seasoned former Cup Series driver, who boasts a career spanning 31 years with 882 starts and 40 victories, recently shared a clip from an interview in which he expressed his disapproval of the conduct at Martinsville. In the video, he says,
“The manufacturers don’t do enough for the drivers to make them give up racing! So, you’re telling me that Chastain and Dillon are getting so much from Chevrolet that they’re gonna quit racing at the end of the race to help another Chevrolet? That has to be one thing and it’s low integrity.”
The penalties, however, were most likely imposed per the rules established in 2013, which expect drivers to compete to the best of their abilities and refrain from manipulating race outcomes.
