Arbitrary track limits rule mars NASCAR’s weekend at COTA

Because of complaints from final yr, drivers and groups had been advised this weekend that any driver whose complete car ventured outdoors of the rumble strips between turns three and six, the “esses” a part of the monitor, can be assessed a pass-thru penalty on pit-road, price roughly 30 seconds.

Each of Saturday’s races, within the Craftsman Truck Sequence and Xfinity Sequence, 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 automotive and was nonetheless penalized, regardless of truly losing ground in doing so.

Loads of voices across the NASCAR neighborhood aired their displeasure with the rule, most notably Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The most important problem with the rule is that it was arbitrarily put in place just for a choose few activates the race monitor, 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 cut up second of time on the monitor or in Elliott’s case, none in any respect.

One in every of NASCAR’s largest calling playing cards traditionally is that drivers are usually not over-officiated the best way they’re in racing collection equivalent to Formulation One and IndyCar. This rule was a nasty look and hopefully it will likely be executed away with subsequent time the collection involves Austin.