NASCAR announces team warnings over race manipulation

NASCAR will warn all teams not to engage in any ‘race manipulation’ as the 2025 playoffs head for Las Vegas this weekend.

The controversial topic hit the headlines last weekend in Charlotte, notably on the very last lap of the Cup Series Round of 12 elimination race.

Denny Hamlin passed Ross Chastain on that final lap, in the process sending Chastain below the cutline and saving his big title rival Joey Logano to fight another day.

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NASCAR verdict on Charlotte drama

In the aftermath, Hamlin said he would not have made the pass had his Joe Gibbs Racing team informed him of the playoff implications. But we now know why they did not - it could have resulted in severe punishment.

Mike Forde, NASCAR managing director of communications, told the Hauler Talk podcast: “I think we would have looked into it for sure. “If we heard that radio transmission say, ‘Hey, (Chastain) needs this point to advance to the next round over (Logano)’ or something of that ilk, and all of a sudden, (Hamlin) let off the gas, that would probably raise a red flag on our side.”

Forde also revealed NASCAR took no action after reviewing the late-race radio transmissions of Alex Bowman and Cole Custer because their team communications drew attention on social media. Custer had been racing behind Logano, and Bowman was near Chastain.

“The beauty of social media in this era is we have thousands of officials sitting at home and reviewing HBO Max cameras, and listening to radio transmissions.

“So it’s very, very difficult for anything to slip by. So we did review (the transmissions of Bowman and Custer), and nothing rose to the level of a penalty.”

Xfinity teams warned

During the Xfinity Series race Saturday, NASCAR warned two teams that already were locked into the next round about discussing the points scenarios for other teams that had yet to advance.

Forde said the discussion by the Xfinity teams occurred early in the race and was unrelated to any maneuvers that could be regarded as manipulation.

“There was no point where this was questionable (or) problematic. But we wanted to get ahead of it with the teams just to say, ‘Hey, if this is the end of the race and you’re still doing this, it’s not going to be good for anybody. Because if you talk about points and then have some actions that are questionable, you’re going to be in hot water.’ “

Teams will get a clear reminder ahead of Vegas

In the aftermath of all that ‘race manipulation’ chatter (which also included a ton of social media debate about drivers ‘saving their tires’), Forde says NASCAR will ram home the message to teams ahead of Las Vegas.

“At a certain point during this week, we will just remind teams, ‘Let’s not put yourselves or ourselves in jeopardy here’“

“Fans should be coming to the race track and expecting a straight-up race where each position is fought for as hard as possible, especially at the end of a race.

“If we do see something or hear something we don’t like, we are going to step in, which we’ve have done now several times. So we are aware, and if we hear something, we will certainly react if necessary.”

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