Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Austin, TX’s Circuit of the Americas was pretty uneventful, with William Byron main 42 of 68 laps as he cruised to his second win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Collection season.
Meaning the NASCAR world might be looking out elsewhere for speaking factors within the coming days and one of many largest needs to be COTA’s observe limits rule that doomed a variety of drivers over the course of the weekend.
Because of complaints from final 12 months, drivers and groups had been advised this weekend that any driver whose total automobile ventured outdoors of the rumble strips between turns three and 6, the “esses” a part of the observe, could be assessed a pass-thru penalty on pit-road, price roughly 30 seconds.
Each of Saturday’s races, within the Craftsman Truck Collection and Xfinity Collection, had been marred by such penalties with probably the most notable coming with Shane van Gisbergen on the ultimate lap of the Xfinity race. After crossing the end line in second, he was demoted to a Twenty seventh-place end.
Sunday’s Cup race did not see fairly the identical quantity of penalties, however had maybe probably the most egregious one of many weekend when Chase Elliott needed to drive astray to avoid wasting his automobile and was nonetheless penalized, regardless of really shedding floor in doing so.
Loads of voices across the NASCAR group aired their displeasure with the rule, most notably Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The largest concern with the rule is that it was arbitrarily put in place just for a choose few activates the race observe, whereas drivers had been allowed to chop corners or use the runoff space round the remainder of the circuit. Moreover, the pass-thru penalty was far too harsh for one thing that solely gained drivers a break up second of time on the observe or in Elliott’s case, none in any respect.
Considered one of NASCAR’s largest calling playing cards traditionally is that drivers should not over-officiated the best way they’re in racing sequence comparable to Method One and IndyCar. This rule was a foul look and hopefully it will likely be executed away with subsequent time the sequence involves Austin.
