The end of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Martinsville was filled with shadowy moves from multiple drivers. Ryan Blaney was cruising forward to take the win while William Byron and Christopher Bell were vying for the final Championship 4 spot behind him.
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Both drivers were shouldered by what appeared to be a coalition between drivers based on their manufacturers. Byron was riding alongside the two Chevrolets of Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon, but none passed him. Radio communication from Dillon’s #3 car mentioned a person asking if Chastain’s crew chief “knew the deal.”
Fans and analysts noted how similar the situation was to the 2013 Spingate in Richmond, a race manipulation controversy that led to the closure of Michael Waltrip Racing.
The question now is if Byron and the other Chevrolets got together to manipulate the race’s outcome in his favor. On the other end of the table, a similar accusation lies on Team Toyota as well. Bubba Wallace cited a flat tire in the final lap and slowed his car down. Bell used this and got past the #23 driver to secure more points. Did Wallace slow down on purpose?
NASCAR eventually cut Bell out of the Championship 4 for illegally riding the wall, but the officials don’t appear to be fully done with the Xfinity 500.
Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer, confirmed that his team will be scanning for potential malpractice. He said in his post-race conference, “As I said earlier, we want to go back, as we would have done anyway.”
“We’ll get back, we’ll take all the data, video. Listen to in-car audio. We’ll do all that, as we would any event.” This will be done for both the Chevrolets and the Toyotas. If they discover that lines have been crossed, further penalties could still be imposed.
Between Bell and Byron, however, there is no love lost. They spoke to each other after the verdict and Bell congratulated Byron for making the final four.
Here’s the radio communication with the No. 3 team and No. 1 team in the closing laps.
It is eerily similar to Richmond in 2013 that saw so much controversy.#NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Xbty26JCrX
— NASCAR on TSN (@NASCARonTSN) November 3, 2024
The radio communication between the teams of Chastain and Dillon is what presents a strong case against Byron. Discoveries made via radio are what led to the covers being lifted off the Michael Waltrip Racing scandal in 2013.
The team was fined $300,000 and multiple drivers and employees were suspended. Sponsors withdrew their support as well and eventually tore the team to the ground.
Hendrick Motorsports should most likely be able to survive such a situation if it comes to it, but there would unquestionably be severe consequences in terms of image and trust. NASCAR will conclude soon after studying the available data over the coming days.
