There used to be a time in NASCAR when the teams could make certain tweaks in their cars here and there to obtain a significant amount of performance bonus. That is what gave birth to cars like the Dodge Charger, which had to be banned by NASCAR solely due to its superior build and unmatched speed. But these days, none of that is possible. And all credits go to the Next Gen stock car.
Advertisement
With the usher of the current generation of the racecar, the field has become evenly matched. The teams source the components of their cars from the same suppliers. It’s almost like putting together pieces of LEGOS; the building blocks are the same and only how one assembles them makes the difference. So there’s no place for cheating.
On that note, two-time Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch recently said in an interview with Pat McAfee, “Everything is really regulated. We’re all parking right next to each other in the garage area when they take their tires off their car… you’re looking in there trying to see exactly what they’re doing. There’s no secrets in our sport anymore. I don’t know how anybody could be cheating.”
"Everything is really regulated now and we all buy the same parts from the same suppliers..
There's no secrets in our sport anymore..
The old term used to be if you ain't cheating you ain't trying" ~ @KyleBusch #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/9uSFxviOki
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 14, 2024
Was cheating the nature of NASCAR earlier?
Kyle Busch further explained, “The old term that was used years ago was…there’s two of them; if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying and the other one was… they’re winning so they must be cheating.” Busch is not wrong. At a glance at NASCAR’s history, one would find several instances, as per How They Play, of veteran drivers ‘cheating’ to win races.
In a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1983, Richard Petty’s winning car failed NASCAR’s post-race inspection. Illegal modifications were found in the car’s engine, which included adding wax to the cylinders. Moreover, the team used the wrong tires. Although Petty’s brother was charged for these modifications, nobody was sure if he had any knowledge about the same.
However, considering the Michael Waltrip scandal of 2007, Petty’s cheating was probably just a child’s play. Waltrip’s team used a fuel additive that had the properties of a jet fuel. Needless to say, NASCAR penalized the team for what is known as the biggest scandal in modern NASCAR history.
Another instance of modifications in a car (this can’t be called cheating per se) is Jeff Gordon’s famous race-winning, 1997 T-Rex Chevrolet. The car, painted to promote the sequel to the age-old movie ‘The Jurassic Park’, was considered one of a kind, and certainly, too fast. Although Gordon was allowed to keep his win, NASCAR banned the car from being raced ever again.
