NASCAR executive weighs in on busy racing weekend
NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that competition officials were working to increase side-by-side racing and passing near the front of the pack after a NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race that heavily favored leading cars.
O’Donnell said that the process goes on every day at the sanctioning body’s Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, as NASCAR moves closer to making a final decision on the rules package for its premier Sprint Cup Series in 2016.
"We actually do that every day," O’Donnell said. "We’re focused on the racing, so when you look at particularly that race, we look at that as one of all of our events. We’re a third of the way through the season. Lot of really great dialogue going on with the drivers, with the owners, with the race tracks, looking at how does the racing compare really over the last three to five years what, if any, of the levers can we look at as we look to the ’16 package. So those discussions take place every day and we’ll continue to do that today and heading into the season.
"But still a third of the way through, too early to make an overall decision but certainly a lot of dialogue going on."
Saturday night, Denny Hamlin claimed the $1 million All-Star prize after his Joe Gibbs Racing crew won the race off pit road before the final 10-lap segment. Once out in clean, non-turbulent air, Hamlin set sail to lead the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag by .923 seconds at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Hamlin holds off Harvick to win Sprint All-Star Race
The outcome was different than that of Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at the intermediate-sized track. Eventual winner Kasey Kahne edged rookie Erik Jones in a captivating green-white-checkered finish after the two drivers raced side-by-side for virtually the entire two-lap shootout. O’Donnell said it was difficult to compare the two divisions, but he liked what he saw.
"I think the ability to maintain that side-by-side racing is what we want to see," O’Donnell said. "There’s a lot of variables with trucks, with aero, the distance of the races, who’s in the field, that sort of thing. But certainly thought it was a tremendous race Friday night and of course, ultimately we’d like to see that throughout all of our divisions each and every race."
This weekend’s racing for all three national series brought some official rulings, both post-race and mid-race. In the truck series’ event, Kahne’s winning JR Motorsports No. 00 Chevrolet was deemed too low on both sides in the front and too high on one side in the rear after a post-race inspection.
RELATED: Kahne wins Truck Series race, but fails post-race inspection
Kahne started at the rear of the field after the team made an unapproved shock change before the race. Competition officials are expected to rule on the issue Tuesday, but O’Donnell said all factors will be considered before the final decision.
"Every car or truck will have to pass pre-race inspection, so that’s something that there’s a balance there at the end of the race to make sure certain components aren’t being manipulated, and that’s our job to look at, but there’s also cases where some pieces legitimately break," O’Donnell said. "These vehicles are out there running high 190s to 200 miles per hour, lots of contact especially when you talk truck racing. That’s something that we take into consideration when we’re evaluating all the vehicles post-race."
Also in Saturday night’s All-Star Race, a NASCAR spokesperson said that a crew member for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team of driver Jimmie Johnson was under review for potentially altering a body panel late in the 110-lap invitational event. The practice of teams flaring out the side skirts ahead of the rear wheels was outlawed in the offseason.
RELATED: Possible infraction for 48 team
O’Donnell said that even though the event did not pay championship points, the high stakes would be reflected in how the NASCAR Rule Book is upheld for All-Star violations.
"Still evaluating that like we do and if we make a decision to react, that would be on Tuesday, but there’s a lot on the line for the All-Star Race," O’Donnell said. "It’s not a points race, but certainly we know how much it means to win that race, so hopefully we don’t have to make a call on this, but we would maintain the rule book throughout the race."
Sunday in the NASCAR XFINITY Series 3M 250, driver Brendan Poole was parked by NASCAR officials after retaliating in reaction to early race contact with J.J. Yeley at Iowa Speedway. O’Donnell said the immediate decision of race officials was necessary.
"In this case when something happens on track, it’s our policy to warn both drivers that we’re going to be specifically looking at contact between those two," O’Donnell said. "In this case, we saw something that we believed was a move to really take someone out and we had to react. Not something we like doing, but we’ve got to react in that case and we did in Iowa."
