Sports
“Racing into the Unknown: NASCAR’s Shifting Damage Policy Sparks Driver Outrage”
Leading into Sunday’s NASCAR Playoff race at Talladega Speedway, there had already been two controversial uses of the Damage Vehicle P0licy (DVP) during the 10-race playoff season. First, Ryan Blaney was towed straight to the pits after a lap one incident at Watkins Glen against the rallying cry from the driver to bring him back to the pits. Ultimately, Blaney’s car was damaged beyond repair, and this move was the correct option. Last week, Josh Berry was ruled out of Kansas for the day after a lap one incident. When he got out of the car, the damage wasn’t as bad as NASCAR expected, and the Stewart Haas team was so livid that they lost their chance to race.
With five laps to go at Talladega, the largest, by number of cars, crash happened in Cup Series history when 28 cars were collected after Austin Cindric was spun out from the lead. Many of the 28 damaged cars were left idle as the drivers could not get them started partly due to malfunctions with their lift systems, being in the grass, or being high-sided.
Briscoe and Chase Elliott, two drivers who are still competing in the NASCAR Playoffs, were towed to their pits and allowed to rejoin the race.
Berry was livid.
“Get towed to pit row, buddy, because that would be breaking the Damaged Vehicle Policy,” Berry told media at the track. “The f***ing No. 42 car is over there doing burnouts, slinging rubber all over the safety workers trying to get going, but if you have four flat tires and have to get towed to pit row, you’re done, right?”
The Steward-Hass Driver was not the only driver upset with the official’s choices; Joey Logano called the scene of drivers waiting and hoping their cars would be deemed acceptable comical.
“It’s comical,” Logano said. “When I got out of the car, I saw a bunch of cars that, after a red flag, we’ve been sitting there for 10 minutes, and everybody is sitting there hoping they can roll a little bit. It’s just goofy.”
Briscoe, who had to be towed to the pit and not just pushed like Elliott, said that it was confusing during the red flag period as officials were telling him different things than they were telling his team, leading to frustration in the cockpit.
“There was a lot of confusion on the backstretch about what to do and how to do it,” Briscoe said. “It was pretty frustrating, to say the least. It was weird we had the air jacks, and we still can’t move. Then we pumped the air jacks, and it didn’t do anything, and then randomly, five minutes later, it went up.
Inside the car, the officials are doing the best that they can; they’re doing their job, but they’re telling you one thing, and your team is telling you that NASCAR is telling them another different thing. It’s very confusing for sure.”
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s SVP of Competiton, was made available to the media after the race and released a more polished interview for NASCAR.com in response to the backlash that the sanctioning body is faced with on its DVP.
“I think on the heels of last week at Kansas, our goal was never to put good cars out of the race,” Sawyer told Alex Weaver. “Last week, we got looking at that and digesting it, we could tell that we maybe should’ve made a different call last week. As we went into Talladega this week we wanted to make sure we aired on the side of the competitor. We didn’t anticipate seeing 25+ cars down there. Some of them in the grass, high-sided, weren’t sure why they couldn’t continue. That’s why we made the decision to tow the two to pit row that we did, the No. 9 and the No. 14, both of those cars made minimal speed.
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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