NASCAR made its decision on Sunday night, one that placed William Byron into the championship race final four and eliminated Christopher Bell but there remains much to dig into that might still affect the results.
Or, at the very least, generate additional scrutiny over everything that happened.
As it turns out, the only subject that competition officials reviewed for 27 minutes after the race, was whether or not Bell sufficiently replicated riding the wall in Turn 4 that it constituted a violation of a rule written in the aftermath of Ross Chastain’s Hail Melon that sent him into the 2022 championship race.
It was a video game move that was later banned on safety grounds with NASCAR ultimately concluding that Bell riding the wall in Turn 4 to get the position and point he needed to advance over Byron met the same standards.
It was a decision that, once again, took 27 minutes after the race to determine — an entire industry and its fan base waiting in suspense over. With two cars between them, Byron and Bell, could do nothing but wait on pit road for their championship fates.
NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer met with the media after the race and said Bell exceeded the standard that the industry deemed would be unacceptable in 2023 and beyond.
“We obviously look at all the video and you go back two years ago when we had the situation with Ross here and there was a lot of dialogue with the drivers about how that’s not a move that we want to have made on the last lap,” Sawyer said. “We had meetings with the industry, meeting with out drivers and yo a man, that was a move that no one wanted to see moving forward.
“So there’s language in the rule book and when you look at it today, clearly, he got up into the fence in 3 and 4 and rode it all the way around there and (so) the rule is pretty straightforward.”
However, it’s objectively not that clear.
Section 10.5.2.6 of the NASCAR rule book states ‘Safety is a top priority for NASCAR and NASCAR Events Management. Therefore, any violations deemed to compromise the safety of an event of otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of competitors, officials, spectators or others are treated with the highest degree of seriousness. Safety violations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.’
Bell was adamant it did not meet the Hail Melon standard in this specific case because he intended to run a traditional line on corner entry into Turn 3.
“I made a mistake and I slid into the wall and unfortunately, they ruled that as a safety violation,” Bell said. “I mean, I didn’t advance my position, I lost time on the race track but it’s not meant to be. It’s fine.”
Bell said it in a way that implied anything but fine.
NASCAR was no doubt in conversation with both Joe Gibbs Racing (Bell) and Hendrick Motorsports (Byron) with both sides surely lobbying their respective cases. Jeff Gordon, the executive vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, certainly believed they were.
“I don’t know where the first call to Elton Sawyer came from, but if I had to guess, Jeff Andrews and all I know is he said they were reviewing it,” Gordon said. “It wasn’t like us filing a protest or anything. We were questioning it, wondering what they were thinking, and as soon as they said they were reviewing it, there was nothing else we could do but wait until they decided it.”
Team owner Joe Gibbs and executives Heather Gibbs and Dave Alpern, alongside No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens, requested time with NASCAR in the Cup Series hauler but was not able to successfully plead their case, nor will they be allowed to appeal it since it was a in-race penalty no different than a pit road speeding violation or jumped restart.
“They said it’s over,” said an emotional Gibbs upon leaving NASCAR’s hauler.
“I appreciate you guys (the media asking about it) but I’m still dealing with it.”
“They said we can’t appeal.”
For Byron, he will race for the championship for a second year in a row, but in real time, it didn’t feel like the triumph he wanted it to be.
“I don’t know what to think,” Byron said. “I have a hard time feeling happy in this situation. We just raced as hard as we could and raced within the rules and everything like that, so it is what it is at that point. We were tied on points, and like I said, the wall ride is what it is. We just had to fight through that. I don’t know. I’m glad to race for a championship, that’s for sure.”
The 27 minute wait was excruciating.
“I’ve never been through anything like that,” Byron said. “There was definitely some drama from that, for sure, because I usually get to go home by now. I don’t really know what to think about all that, but thankful that NASCAR looked at it, that they have rules in place, and that’s what it is.”
At the same time, Byron benefited from some ethical and maybe illicit decisions as well. Byron’s car was losing pace as the laps counted down and fell from inside the top-5 to sixth ahead of two fellow Chevrolet drivers in Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon.
Losing one more spot, or Bell gaining one, would be the difference in which driver would advance to the championship race. Dillon and Chastain remained side-by-side, never passing Byron for well over 10 laps and there was radio communication to imply there was no goal to do so whatsoever, either.
Austin Dillon RCR 3 radio
Justin Alexander: “Brandon, the 24 is only two points to the good right now and there’s two sports between them.”
Brandon Benesch: “The 24 is only two points to the good right now on points.”
Justin Alexander: “If we pass them, he’ll be out”
Austin Dillon: “Who is he racing?”
Justin Alexander: “He just can’t give up spots.”
Justin Alexander: “Does (Ross Chastain) know the deal?”
Brandon Benesch: “I’m trying to tell him, Justin can you tell the crew chief?”
Justin Alexander: “12 to go!”
Brandon Benesch: “Does the 1 crew chief know the deal?”
Justin Alexander: “Yeah, he should.”
Watch the video above. Dillon ceded every opportunity to pass Byron, because it would result in a Chevrolet team elimination.
Ross Chastain Trackhouse 1 radio
Brandon McReynolds: “Nice and smooth with the 24 down there.”
Brandon McReynolds: “Even. Down there even (with the 3 below). Nice and smooth there with the 24. Door.”
Brandon McReynolds: “The 24 is on point to the good there.”
Brandon McReynolds: “Even. Still down there even (with the 3 below). Even.”
Brandon McReynolds: “Doing good. Three more. Even.”
Watch the video above. Chastain ceded every opportunity to pass Byron, because it would result in a Chevrolet team elimination.
This was the basis of a significant scandal in 2013, at the regular season finale at Richmond, in which several teams conspired over the radio to influence the results of a race based on manufacturer alliances.
Clint Bowyer was even ordered to intentionally spin out in order to produced a caution that would aid teammate Martin Truex Jr. in advancing to the playoffs over Gordon. Gordon was controversially added as the 13th driver in the 12 driver playoffs and Truex was issued a points penalty that was impossible to overcome.
The bad publicity stemming from decisions that were deemed as ‘cheating’ eventually put Michael Waltrip Racing out of business.
Anyway, how did Byron address having de facto wing-men behind him on Sunday?
“No one moved me and they gave me room to kind of catch my car,” Byron said. “They raced me hard. I just didn’t have enough rear tires left so I needed all the racetrack, and I was using all of it.”
How did Bell feel about that?
“It was clear what was going on with the 24, because he fell back to me almost a straightaway or something, but … it just wasn’t meant to be today and this year and we accomplished a lot and I’m proud of that.”
And that wasn’t the only additional thing that needed to be reviewed, as before Bell even hit the wall, Toyota affiliate Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing was slow ahead of Bell and looked to be conceding the position Bell would have needed.
Wallace 23XI No. 23 radio
Bubba Wallace: “God forbid if we don’t help a fucking JGR car”
Bootie Barker: “Tell him how far back the 20 is Freddie”
Freddie Kraft: “10 to go. 10 to go at the line. Five back 11 and then 10 back to the 24. 24 and 20 are separated by a point right now.”
Freddie Kraft: “Still about half a straightaway back to the 20. You’ll be coming back to five to go.”
(Wallace starts shaking his car back and forth with four to go)
Bubba Wallace: “I think I’ve got a tire going down.”
Freddie Kraft: “Nurse it home for us.”
(Kraft tells Wallace to hold it up top for a group that includes Byron but also Bell, who needs a point, then the attempted Hail Melon happens)
Ultimately, Wallace said he had a flat tire and that was just him trying to hold onto it. He maintained that after the race too.
“At that point, I went half a straightaway back, so I went loose or something broke and just nursing it and (Bell) tried to slid me and I’m like ‘brother,’ just trying to bid our time and try to not crash and bring out a caution and jumble up the whole field. So that was it.”
NASCAR did take the 23 to post-race inspection and everything from there came up clear.
Sawyer said, somewhere in the 27 minutes that NASCAR was making a decision after the race, that they never even reviewed anything other than Bell riding the wall.
“You look at the situations that were going on, the No. 23 and the cars behind the No. 24, that really had no bearing on this decision and we will look at those at a later time,” Sawyer said. “But when you really just dissect exactly what happened, look at the situation with the No. 20 getting up against the fence and riding the fence, we stated after Ross did that, that it would not be accepted.”
Why did it take so long?
“We want to get it right, first and foremost,” Sawyer said. “This is not something that happens every week. We want to be prepared. I thought our team in the tower did exactly what we needed to do. Let’s get this right.
“Fortunately, we don’t have it every week. It is something that we’ll go back and figure out if we could have made that decision faster, for sure. I didn’t know it took — you could have told me it took five minutes or 55. I don’t know.”
And with that, Byron leaves Martinsville set to race for the championship for a second consecutive year, joining Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick.
“I’m excited; I can’t wait to race for a championship next week,” Byron said. “I know we’ll bring a bullet there. We had an awesome car today, got a little bit of damage, but I was really happy with it. I’m excited.”
Credit to @Basso488 for onboard recordings from the race
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.