Did you know about the incredible, manipulated national event that took place last year? No, I do n’t mean the presidential election. I mean the NASCAR tournament.
Okay, that characterization may exaggerate things somewhat. But some conflicts in the NASCAR Cup Series’ final race of the season, held Nov. 3 in Martinsville, Virginia, carried over to Sunday’s culture in Phoenix used to king a Cup champion. Questions remained over whether a playoff format created to increase drama is causing serious finishes rather than choreographed ones as a result of the controversy.
Playoff Format at Matter
Stock car racing has relied on a “playoff” structure to establish champions for the majority of the twentieth century, unlike most other sporting teams, where championships are decided based on points developed over the course of a full period. Beginning in 2014, NASCAR established reduction “rounds” as part of the quarterfinals, where individuals with the worst overall scores are eliminated from the finals at the conclusion of each three-race “round.” ( Drivers who are eliminated from or do not qualify for the playoffs continue to compete in the same categories as playoff drivers; they just cease to be eligible for the championship that year. )
Additionally, this format has a “win-and-in” feature that guarantees that race winners quickly advance to the next round and that playoff drivers who win races during the playoffs also automatically qualify for the next round. When Austin Dillon won a race in Richmond this summer while wrecking two different vehicles on the last lap, the negative effects of this feature and the importance it places on winning unique races became clear.
Several weeks after the race, NASCAR determined that Dillon’s steps violated the club’s standards for safety and etiquette. Dillon’s victory was allowed, but the collection removed the involuntary postseason spot that otherwise would have been attached to that victory and he did not make it to the playoffs based on his season standings.
Martinsville Conflicts
The race for the win was not the subject of the Martinsville controversy: Ryan Blaney, the winner of the previous year, won it persuasively and perfectly. Alternatively, the controversy centered on the” Championship Four,” which consisted of the four individuals who would compete for the title in Phoenix and awarded a non-race winner based on their items in the three tribes prior to and including Martinsville.
The details distinction between Daytona 500 success William Byron and Christopher Bell, who were tied after the Martinsville culture, may have changed who would have qualified for the Championship Four. Bell passed Bubba Wallace on the final lap of the Martinsville contest to earn this link. Bell believed he may advance to the final race in Phoenix because he won the tiebreaker over Byron.
NASCAR had different thoughts. Bell made contact with the roof as he approached the checkered flag, and his car veered off the border incessantly. This was a similar move to Ross Chastain’s” Hail Melon” move from Martinsville two years ago, when he sped away and “rided the wall” in a way that made it possible for him to pass much opponents on the final lap to advance to the playoffs. ( Chastain comes from a family that grows watermelons, hence the nickname. )
After Chastain’s” Hail Melon”, NASCAR outlawed the shift that winter, deeming it unsafe to drivers and fans alike. The sanctions system found that Bell’s move of Wallace, while less severe than the original 2022 incident, was in violation of that provision and penalized his car, making Byron and no Bell advance to the Championship Four, half an hour after the Martinsville race this year.
Manipulated Race?
Bell defended his answer and pointed out that Byron had a personal issue with the Martinsville race’s conclusion. Byron was immediately closing the gap between Dillon and Chastain, who were both on older wheels, but neither of them managed to pass him in the final two laps.
Chastain and Dillon, like Byron, travel Chevrolets. During the event’s last laps, communications from Chastain’s and Dillon’s teams both made their drivers informed of Byron’s points problem — that is, if Byron lost another place in the running order, he did not expand in the playoffs.
Those television contacts intentionally prevented Ford vehicle Brad Keselowski from passing Byron while also allowing what appeared to be a situation of Byron holding off two hard-charging vehicles with a more sinister appearance. As if this Chevrolet controversy were n’t bad enough, Bell only passed Wallace on the last lap because Wallace — who, like Bell, drives for Toyota — had slowed dramatically, claiming that he had a flat tire after Wallace’s team told him that Bell needed to gain another position to advance.
The final few rounds of the Martinsville contest resulted in the communication of a professional grappling” contest,” with Wallace “tanking” by letting his Toyota teammate pass him and Dillon and Chastain “tanking” by failing to pass their Chevy partner. Neither of these incidents may affect the positions status and who would win the championship. Both situations arguably violated NASCAR’s” 100 percentage rule”, a provision that says owners must provide their maximum effort in a contest, inserted after a comparable “tanking” controversy in the 2013 finals.
Bell was penalized at the Martinsville competition for passing Wallace, but NASCAR responded to the other contestants several weeks later. The Chastain, Dillon, and Wallace cars ‘ crew chiefs were suspended and fined for disclosing information about the Byron-Bell items incident that led to race manipulation. They also received punishment for giving their respective owners information about the lookouts (team people who stand at the top of the racetrack and help guide their vehicles through traffic ). The series said it would do the same if similar circumstances did occur in the future but did not directly penalize the drivers.
Interviewed in Phoenix, Bell said he felt” cheated out of a chance to compete for a championship”, because” the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet” ( i. e., the Chastain and Dillon cars running interference for Byron ) in ways that forced Bell into his rule-breaking pass of Wallace. However, the championship outcome was not directly affected by the Martinsville mess. Joey Logano, who had clinched a spot in the Championship Four before the Martinsville race, won Sunday’s race in Phoenix, defeating both Bell and Byron in the process of capturing his third Cup championship.
Effects of Artificial Drama
For the series ‘ part, NASCAR said “everyone” within the sanctioning body felt “p-ssed” at the way the Martinsville race played out. The drama the series has attempted to foster through the playoff format, which NASCAR officials said they have no intention of abandoning, is at the center of many aspects of the controversy.
When a series uses an elimination-style format that increases end-of-season drama but also places a premium on finishing in a few key races rather than a longer season, viewers should n’t be surprised when other teams try to manipulate results in those few races. In an effort to pique fans ‘ attention and keep them interested, NASCAR has gone a long way to alter its product (artificially, some would say ), but it still has to bear the consequences of the changes it has made.
