Charlotte, N.C.— NASCAR issued $600,000 in fines and suspended nine team members from three different teams on Tuesday for alleged race manipulation at Martinsville Speedway.The penalties came down after a contentious final battle Sunday at the Virginia track in which Christopher Bell initially qualified for the championship final four but his move to hit the wall and use it for momentum violated a banned safety rule and was disallowed.
That gave the final spot in this week's winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway to William Byron.The race itself was won by Ryan Blanely.But, NASCAR was clear in disqualifying Bell that it would take a hard look at the actions other drivers played in the sequence of events as Bell and Byron battled for the final spot in the championship flat.
In the case of Bell, NASCAR determined fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace faked a flat tire in order to give Bell the leeway to move out of the way and hit the wall.In the case of Byron, NASCAR ruled that Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon both ran interference to help fellow Chevrolet driver Byron not lose any position on the track that would cost him a spot in the championship.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, said the sanctioning body considered suspending the drivers as well as taking action against manufacturers Chevrolet and Toyota.He said there was nothing in the rulebook that would call for the manufacturers to be punished, but NASCAR planned to meet with the leaders of Ford, Chevy and Toyota to discuss the situation.
Because the penalties were issued the week of the season finale, the teams have until Wednesday afternoon to ask for an expedited appeal.The appeals would likely be heard Thursday.
Trackhouse Racing, which fields Chastain's Chevy, said it would appeal, as did 23XI for the Wallace's Toyota."We feel strongly that we did not commit any violations during Sunday's race," 23XI said in a statement."The team is c...