NASCAR Addresses ‘Grass’ Issue

At the end of the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway last Sunday, Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen chose to do a little agricultural racing during their cooldown lap and made a run through the grass.

NASCAR was not pleased and is addressing the matter.  NASCAR director of communications Mike Forde said that the would be speaking with the drivers during their weekly meetings prior to the races.

Forde said, “we did not care for it, not one bit. We’re going to just remind teams this is something where we actually have a rule. I think we’re going to give (Trackhouse) a little bit of a warning. But there is a rule that says what they did — you could argue — broke a rule, and there could have been repercussions for it. But I think we’re going to allow the teams sort of a gimme here and say moving forward be aware that we are going to be looking at this.”

The rule: 6421.b in the NASCAR rule book states: cars are considered to be under impound conditions immediately after the checkered flag and must not be altered or adjusted in any manner during the cooldown lap or on pit road prior to reporting to the inspection areas.

Forde added, “that is something that we’ll frown upon in a significant way. Whether that is going to be an in-race penalty or a DQ, that is going to be determined after the event. It depends on how blatant the violation was. I don’t think we’re going to outline exactly what the repercussions would be because we’re going to take it on a case-by-case basis.”

Forde noted that the drivers were likely looking to ensure minimum weight; an issue that cost Alex Bowman a playoff bid last year.  Chastain and van Gisbergen are both in the playoffs and are subject to post race inspections.

Forde noted, “these teams are pushing it so close to the line on weight.  They know exactly how to math it out where we give them a 17-pound tolerance after the race. In Darlington, we measured every single playoff car, and there were a couple of cars that were within a pound of almost failing and being DQ’d.”