The folks at NASCAR recently made three disciplinary calls that at first seem somewhat confusing. The first was correct, no question about it. The second was actually a no-call that Cup Series fans probably cheered. The third was no surprise, and it gave haters something fresh to hate.
Here’s what happened:
First: Two weeks ago rookie Carson Hocevar intentionally spun Harrison Burton under caution in Nashville. It cost Hocevar $50,000 and 25 points. Really, hardly anyone cared because he and Burton aren’t big-name stars and weren’t racing near the front.
Next: Last weekend, on the cool-down lap after the Chicago race, former champion Chase Elliott took a swipe at Daniel Suarez. NASCAR’s most popular driver then pulled ahead of Suarez and brake-checked him. Moments earlier, on the last lap, they had bumped fighting for a top-15 finish. Elliott bumped first, then Suarez bumped back in the last corner en route to 13th. Elliott fell from a likely top-15 to 21st, but both remain Playoff-eligible because of early-season victories.
Afterward, Elliott and Suarez met on pit road. Elliott initially seemed angry, but later seemed to accept Suarez’s explanation. They appeared to come to an agreement and, after a brief embrace, parted without incident. Compared to some post-race discussions, it was refreshing to see such professional behavior.
Finally: Bubba Wallace did even worse to race winner Alex Bowman. On the cool-down lap he rushed through the slowing field to catch Bowman, who had lowered his window net and loosened his belts. After all, he thought the race was over, his 80-race winless streak finally ended.
But Wallace, angry about early-race, wall-banging contact with Bowman that relegated him to 13th at the finish, caught Bowman and turned left, slamming into Bowman’s passenger-side door. That sent Bowman’s car against the outside wall with enough force to lift its right-front tire off the pavement.
Three days later, officials fined Wallace $50,000 for contact with Bowman, but took no action against Elliott. As Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Senior Vice-President of Racing explained, “We didn’t see any evidence with Chase/Daniel that would raise to a level of a penalty. Very minor contact, if any. Bubba hit Alex hard enough to pick the right-front up off the ground, plus left-side contact with the wall.”
NASCAR said Wallace’s penalty came under Section 4.4 B&D in its Member Code of Conduct. It cited 4.4.B, which states that detrimental actions “could result in a loss of 25-50 driver and/or team owner points and/or $50,000-$100,000 fine, or may result in race suspension(s), indefinite suspension, or membership revocation.” The rule mentions “wrecking or spinning another vehicle” as one example of detrimental actions.
For years, NASCAR has issued fines and loss of points against some of its biggest stars: Tony Stewart for $50,000 after hitting Brian Vickers at Sonoma many years ago; Hendrick Motorsports for $100,000 after its crew chiefs were caught cheating; Stewart-Haas Racing for $250,000 for having counterfeit parts; Ricky Stenhouse for $75,000 after punching Kyle Busch after this year’s All-Star race; Front Row Motorsports and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing for $100,000 each for illegal parts; and, just two weeks ago, Hocevar for $50,000 after spinning Burton.
Not surprisingly, Bowman took blame for the in-race incident, then tried to downplay Wallace’s post-race contact.
“I apologize again to the 23 guys,” he said. “I messed up and was trying to get my windshield wiper on. I missed a corner and ruined their whole day. I hate that it happened and I’m embarrassed. He barely hit me (on the cool-down); everything was fine. It was plenty deserved and I’d be mad, too.
“I tried to call him during the rain delay and shot him a text, but nothing I can do will make it better. I’m sure us winning only makes it worse. I’m hard on myself when I make mistakes like that and I’ve been embarrassed about it since it happened. The rain delay was a lot of me sitting being embarrassed and mad at myself.”
As usual, motorsports-related message boards and chatrooms piled on Wallace just because … well, you know: He’s biracial and doesn’t look like the rest of us. Only a few chatrooms and message boards mentioned the post-race actions of Elliott, a six-time Most Popular Driver.
“Golden boy won’t get anything,” one fan said of Elliott. Said another: “What about Elliott hitting Suarez during the same cool-down lap? That should also be investigated.” And from another: “Will they be reviewing Elliot/Suarez? There needs to be consistency — you can’t penalize some but not others.”
But Wallace took the most heat. One fan said he should have been fined AND suspended for several races. Another, apparently overlooking his six Truck and two Cup victories, said, “He couldn’t drive a thirsty horse to water.” Yet another said, “Suspend him — he’s not good for the sport.” One fair-minded fan said, “Get out and discuss it or fight it out, but don’t use your car as a weapon.”
Still, they went on: “It should have had a points penalty, too. It’s not like this is the first time he’s lost control. Bubba has no class or professionalism, and he demonstrated that yet again.” Another said, “NASCAR wants Bubba in the playoffs, so issuing a points penalty would reduce the chances of that happening.” Others basically accused Wallace of “doing this all the time.” One blogger said NASCAR should send him to “angry management” class.
Really? What NASCAR driver hasn’t occasionally needed some “ANGER management” counseling? Stenhouse? The Busch brothers? Stewart? Cale Yarborough? Clint Bowyer? Matt Kenseth? Jeff Gordon? Kevin Harvick? Darrell Waltrip? And probably dozens more back in the rough-and-tumble “good ole days.”
One more thing: NASCAR says Hocevar’s penalty was money AND points because he spun Burton under caution, while safety workers and rescue vehicles were nearby. That created more danger than in either of the Elliott/Suarez and Wallace/Bowman situations.
Clearly, NASCAR has sent a message. The question remains, will anyone listen?
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