NASCAR's Self-Inflicted Mistakes and Controversies Have Come at Worst Possible Time

Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass has covered NASCAR since the early 1990s. He's seen it change a lot in that time. He's also witnessed plenty of controversies. In 2024, like everyone else, the veteran journalist has watched the sanctioning body make repeated self-inflicted mistakes, including multiple stumbles in the postseason.

The Oct. 6 Cup Series Talladega race featured the towing-damaged vehicle policy debacle when track workers returned randomly selected damaged cars to pit road for repair after a late crash. The situation led Kevin Harvick to call out officials on his podcast for "being consistently inconsistent."

The Oct. 12 Xfinity race ending at the Charlotte Roval was another controversy because it took officials almost 20 seconds to put out a yellow after Leland Honeyman buried his car underneath the tires. The delayed call outraged fans even more because of its timing and being displayed with fan favorite Parker Kligerman just feet from the start-finish line and taking the white flag, which would have made the race official.

The latest blunder was a call-no call on Bubba Wallace and William Byron for shortcutting the front stretch chicane during Sunday's Cup race that fans called out on social media.

In an interview on the "Beating and Banging" YouTube channel, Pockrass got candid about NASCAR's blunders in 2024.

"I think that they certainly haven't had the best of years," Pockrass said. "I think it kind of comes and goes. I think especially in the playoff time, this is probably one of the times where it seems to have cropped up a few times in the playoffs.

"It's the part of this playoff system, right? We didn't have the playoff system and somebody gets a raw deal on a call in one of 36 races, you kind of feel like they'll get the benefit of a call in one or two of 36 races, and it's not as big a deal.

"But with this system, the onus is on NASCAR to be perfect. And in the tower be perfect in their calls. And certainly they've struggled with communication of how they're going to do things in some ways."

NASCAR has been far from perfect in 2024. Years from now, fans will remember an entertaining season and its four incredible Cup finishes that were among the 10 closest in the sport's 76-year history. Unfortunately, they'll also recall the repeated blunders by officials and how they came at the worst possible time of the year.

Related: NASCAR Official Admits Mistake in Xfinity Series Roval 400 Finish