NASCAR to immediately investigate Cup Series car issue after scary Bristol incidents

NASCAR says it will investigate the scary incidents during that Cup Series blockbuster in Bristol which saw three cars catch fire.

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race produced utter chaos in Tennessee, with 36 lead changes and 14 caution periods before Christopher Bell eventually took the checkered flag.

But the scariest moments of all came when the Fords driven by Josh Berry, Austin Cindric and Chad Finchum caught fire because of rubber buildup.

The incidents came on the back of a week of speculation about the new right-side tire deployed by Goodyear and NASCAR at Bristol. That included Denny Hamlin claiming his sources said the new compound had wrecked a machine used to test it.

While there is no doubt that the tire wear on Saturday night just added to the excitement on track (see above with all those lead changes and cautions), NASCAR says it is unclear as yet why we got flames as well.

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NASCAR updates on Bristol car fires

Mike Forde, managing director of communications, provided an update on the latest episode of the Hauler Talk podcast:

“There wasn’t anything that really jumped out at us and said, ‘Yeah, this is exactly what happened. Here’s the fix’.

“We have been in conversation with Team Penske, and they have some theories as well that we’re looking into. So more to come, and it’s still a little bit early in the process. There may be some changes for New Hampshire.”

Forde also referenced all the cars involved being Fords, adding: “It doesn’t seem like it can just be a coincidence where it’s just Fords, so maybe there is something there.

“That’s part of what we’re looking into and having discussions with Penske, and that’s part of the investigation into if this is a Ford problem, or if there’s some kind of setup or how their headers are designed. That is part of the fact-finding we’re on right now.”

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What NASCAR could do next

NASCAR has already made recent setup changes in a bid to stop incidents like these happening, including mandating a left-side debris shield to keep excess rubber from entering the engine headers. Forde says mandating a similar shield on the right side may be an option moving forward, though it appears unlikely.

“That probably won’t happen because we don’t believe that is the cause of the issue. “We’re still digging into it, working with the teams and the engineers here at the R&D Center. If there is something that needs to be addressed for New Hampshire, we certainly will.”

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