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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Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, is in the running for a potential return to F1. The young racer has emerged as a late contender for a seat at Kick Sauber, which will become Audi in 2026. Led by Mattia Binotto, the team announced Mick as a candidate for their drivers’ lineup in 2025.
Speaking in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Binotto dived into details about the young driver. “We are definitely evaluating him [Mick Schumacher],” he said.
The statement is being seen as the 25-year-old’s last chance to return to the sport.
Mick has previous association with Mattia Binotto through the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Speaking about their connection, Binotto added, “I met him and spoke to him. I have known him for a long time, having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. I know his strengths and advantages. He is one of the names we have in mind.”
Mick, who drove for Haas during his last stint in Formula 1, was a reserve for Mercedes in the last two seasons. The driver was also in contention for a seat at Alpine after Esteban Ocon left the team for Haas. He even raced for the French manufacturer in the World Endurance Championship. However, the squad decided to go with rookie driver Jack Doohan, instead.
Audi Chief Binotto now has the young racer on the radar as he hopes to bring him back to the sport.
He discussed how the team was in no rush to make a hasty decision, especially now that most teams have already decided their line-ups. “There are two essential options: on the one hand, experience to set us on the growth path. On the other is a young, talented driver who can accompany us on the path to the top,” Binotto said.
With Sauber preparing for a full acquisition by Audi in 2026, the German carmaker looks focused on assembling a competitive team. Should Mick join Sauber, he would team up with Nico Hulkenberg, who leaves Haas at the end of the 2024 season. The 37-year-old German racer is taking one of the two seats next year.
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Carlos Sainz teased one day revealing his true thoughts on Mattia Binotto claiming he would not have signed Lewis Hamilton if still Ferrari boss.
Ahead of the F1 2024 campaign, Hamilton activated an exit clause in his Mercedes contract to engineer a blockbuster F1 2025 move to Ferrari, signing a multi-year deal. That came at the expense of Sainz, who has since agreed terms with Williams.
Carlos Sainz reacts after Binotto’s Lewis Hamilton Ferrari bombshell
At Ferrari, Hamilton reunites with his former junior series boss Fred Vasseur, who took over the reins at Maranello in 2023, after the exit of former team principal Mattia Binotto.
And Binotto has confirmed that if he were still calling the shots, Hamilton would not have got his Ferrari dream move.
Asked by Corriere della Sera if he would have signed Hamilton to Ferrari, Binotto replied: “No. But he did very well to go to Ferrari, I agree with his decision.”
Explaining his reasoning, Binotto said that Hamilton’s future Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc – a part of their line-up since 2019 and a Ferrari Driver Academy graduate – should be their centrepiece for an F1 title challenge.
“Because Ferrari had set their sights on other drivers. And if the talent is Leclerc, he is the one who somehow I think should be taken to the target,” claimed Binotto.
And Sainz, speaking at the 2024 Marca Sports Weekend, was asked for his reaction to that.
“Binotto says he wouldn’t have signed Lewis?” Sainz replied.
Gathering up his thoughts, Sainz teased that he would one day share them, but this was not the time.
“I don’t get involved in that,” he said, “I’ll keep my opinion to myself and I’ll tell you my opinion over dinner one day.”
As for the Hamilton and Leclerc partnership, Sainz believes it will be a successful one for Ferrari.
“He and Leclerc are two great drivers, I’m sure they’ll have a good time,” he said.
Sainz will be joining a Williams team striving to work its way up the F1 pecking order, with F1 2026 – the year that new chassis and power unit regulations arrive – very much the goal in mind rather than next season.
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Amidst the chaos in the Cup Series playoffs, one driver has been consistently getting the results while flying under the radar. Christopher Bell has been somewhat of a dark horse in the ongoing campaign, even though he’s currently second in the championship, having secured three wins in the season so far. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has shown great consistency over the last few weeks, finishing no lower than seventh in the last four races.
Despite the attention going towards the traditional favorites such as Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, a prominent NASCAR Insider isn’t ruling out Christopher Bell as a genuine title contender if he does make it to Phoenix Raceway later this year.
He might not be in the headlines, but Christopher Bell has every reason to be optimistic about his championship hopes going into the last four races of the season. The 29-year-old has shown tremendous consistency over the last few months, having finished inside the top ten in 9 out of the last 11 races. As a result, the No. 20 Toyota Camry driver finds himself just behind Kyle Larson in the standings going into the Round of Eight. Even though Victory Lane has eluded the Oklahoma native, Bell is playing the long game, hoping to remain in contention, going into the Championship 4 race.
Highlighting his expectations from Christopher Bell, NBC Sports play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, “I don’t think enough people give enough credit to Christopher Bell. To me, he’s that quiet achiever and I love the fact that how honest he was at Kansas where he made the mistake at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2 when he hit the wall, said that’s totally on me. I just think he’s the only guy who’s made the Championship 4 the last two years in succession, and I just think the time is now for him.
