NASCAR is heading into its championship weekend amid several off-track issues. It is currently involved in a federal antitrust lawsuit with NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, and its officiating has been under investigation for months. This week, NASCAR also handed out significant fines for alleged race manipulation in the final playoff race.
Truck Series title contender Ty Majeski was fined $12,500 for missing media obligations in North Carolina on Tuesday so he could vote in person in his home state of Wisconsin.
Despite these controversies, the focus shifts to the three championships that will be decided starting Friday at Phoenix Raceway. However, these races are being overshadowed by the drama surrounding NASCAR in recent months. The four drivers competing in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale are trying to block out the distractions.
One of those drivers, Tyler Reddick, is making his first appearance in the final four and is hoping to help Michael Jordan win his first championship as a team owner, a role Jordan took on in 2021.
“No, for me, and for our group, it is championship weekend and everything else is not in our focus,” Reddick said on Thursday.
A federal judge in North Carolina is expected to rule on Friday — the same day as the Truck Series championship and the first Cup Series practice — on a request for a preliminary injunction from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
These two teams did not accept NASCAR’s offer in September for a new revenue-sharing agreement and have instead filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and its chairman, Jim France.
The teams are seeking recognition under NASCAR’s charter agreements and have accused the organization of being “monopolistic bullies.” The judge’s ruling will come the same day NASCAR is scheduled to give its annual “State of the Sport” address.
Ryan Blaney, the defending NASCAR champion, is hoping to become the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010.
Blaney said the off-track issues do not concern him or his team, Team Penske. Blaney and his teammate Joey Logano give Ford and Roger Penske a 50% chance of winning a third straight Cup title.
“For me it feels normal because I am not a part of any of it,” Blaney said. “I am part of what I am doing, the championship, so it’s nice to not be a part of any of the things going on outside sheer competition. For me, it’s a great week, championship week and we’ve got a chance to do it. To me, it’s normal.”
NBC Sports does not believe the off-track drama will interfere with their coverage of the three national series races at Phoenix.
“I think during the race, we are here to crown a champion and I can’t imagine us talking about anything other than that,” said analyst Jeff Burton, who added that play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey is unlikely to mention anything like “but there’s a lawsuit!” when Reddick wins.
However, there are still other issues to deal with. On Tuesday, NASCAR fined teams a total of $600,000 and suspended nine members from three different Cup teams for alleged race manipulation at Martinsville Speedway last weekend.
NASCAR ruled that Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing helped fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell by pretending to have a flat tire. This caused Bell to hit the wall, allowing him to use the momentum to claim the final playoff spot over William Byron.
This move was deemed illegal after Ross Chastain used the same tactic in 2022, and it took NASCAR officials almost 30 minutes after the race to decide whether Bell should be disqualified. Bell was disqualified, and Byron from Hendrick Motorsports got the final playoff spot.
“It was excruciating,” Byron admitted Thursday. “It was so long. I was honestly numb to it. I was just preparing for not being in and thinking we had done all we needed to do to get in.”
NASCAR also determined that Chastain and Austin Dillon, both driving Chevrolets, acted as blockers for Byron in the final laps, stopping anyone else from taking his position.
Trackhouse Racing and Richard Childress Racing appealed the penalties, while 23XI withdrew its initial appeal and denied that it had manipulated the race for Bell. RCR also withdrew its appeal before the hearing. The appeal panel ruled on Thursday that Trackhouse Racing had violated the rules.
There’s also the ongoing scrutiny over NASCAR’s officiating in general.
Throughout the playoffs, NASCAR has been inconsistent with its damaged vehicle policy (DVP), which was poorly handled during the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.
The confusion about the DVP rule started early in the playoffs when Blaney and Josh Berry were involved in first-lap incidents. Even though the damage seemed minor, both drivers were ruled out of the race because they couldn’t continue after contact, and they were not allowed to return to the pits.
However, at Talladega, after a big 28-car crash brought out the red flag, NASCAR struggled to manage the cleanup. Several damaged cars were stuck with flat tires, and playoff contenders Chase Elliott and Briscoe were allowed to be towed back to the pit stalls for repairs.
According to the previous DVP rule, these cars should have been out of the race because they had four flat tires and couldn’t drive back to the pit road.
The drivers were upset over the change in how the rule was enforced. NASCAR later told teams that the DVP policy would be applied the same way for the rest of the playoffs as it was at Talladega.
“The DVP policy could spill into the live event,” NBC analyst Steve Letarte said. “So when it affects on-track clearly to us, we have to cover that, that’s our job. But there’s no chance I’m going to pull an off-track story and connect it to an on-track performance. I think it’s a slap in the face to whatever team wins the championship trophy.”
