'No shenanigans': NASCAR warns playoffs teams about race manipulation

NASCAR did not find anything in its review of the Charlotte Roval that warranted a penalty for race manipulation, but a reminder will be given to teams before the Round of 8 begins.

“We are planning on making teams aware that our eyes and ears are open to any shenanigans,” Mike Ford, NASCAR managing director of communications, said on this week’s edition of Hauler Talk. 

NASCAR’s official podcast spent the majority of the episode reviewing the elimination races from the Charlotte Roval and explaining that all radio communication was reviewed. There were two spotters who had been warned during the Xfinity Series race for discussing points over the radio. Both of those teams were already guaranteed a spot in the next round. Freddie Kraft, the spotter for Bubba Wallace, said earlier this week on the podcast he co-hosts, Door Bumper Clear, that spotters have been told not to mention points on the radio.

“To my knowledge, there was no formal communication to spotters following Martinsville that told them they could not talk about points,” Amanda Ellis, NASCAR senior director of racing communications, said on Hauler Talk. “It did come up during the Xfinity race on Saturday, where two specific teams were warned related to some of the conversations that they were having, and NASCAR communicated to them via the IM chat capabilities that we have… They were just given a warning that if the points didn’t have to do with them, their specific car, and then we did not want to see them talking about points. 

“To take that one step further, it’s not a message that you can’t talk about points; it’s more of a message that if you’re talking about points, it should be about your car and not other vehicles that are in play.”

NASCAR and the garage have been on high alert for potential race manipulation since the fall of 2024, following the elimination race at Martinsville Speedway. In the aftermath of the Cup Series race, NASCAR penalized three Cup Series teams for radio communication and actions on the racetrack where drivers were helping manufacturer teammates. 

In the Cup Series race at Charlotte, there were late-race communications on the radios of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano about their points situations. NASCAR not only reviewed those communications but also reviewed how others were racing around them, such as Cole Custer around Logano and Alex Bowman around Chastain. 

“We did review it, and the beauty of social media in this officiating era is we have now millions, or at least thousands, of officials sitting at home reviewing HBO Max cameras and listening to radio transmissions,” Forde said. “So, it’s very, very difficult for anything to slip by. We have folks in remote race control listening to radio transmissions. We have people in race control itself listening to them. We have a lot of it covered, and there are some things that are going to slip through the cracks, no doubt about it, but it seems like they are always going to be caught by the fans who are as tuned in as any sport. I will die on that hill; very impressive work by our fans. 

“So, we did review it, and nothing rose to the level of a penalty. I think we have some meetings with teams at a certain point this week/weekend… if they need a reminder, ‘Let’s not put ourselves in jeopardy here.’ Fans should be coming to the racetrack and expecting a straight-up race where each position is fought for as hard as possible, especially at the end of the race. If we do see or hear something we don’t like, we are going to step in, which we have done several times now.”

Las Vegas Motor Speedway begins the Round of 8 in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series. It leads to the final elimination race of the postseason at Martinsville Speedway, the weekend of October 24-26.