Whereas the NASCAR playoff format has develop into a proverbial punching bag for folks as of late, and typically unfairly so, what occurred final weekend at Martinsville is 100% a byproduct of it. The NASCAR playoffs are structured in a means in order that title favorites like Kyle Larson can simply be knocked out of championship rivalry and drivers with so-so seasons like Joey Logano get to combat for the crown. And that is not a knock towards Logano, who has as soon as once more nailed this all or nothing format. Do not hate the participant, hate the sport.
And the sport deserved loads of hate after Martinsville. This wasn’t a teammate pushing one other to the win at Talladega, however a blatant try to bend the end result to at least one producer or one other’s will. The drivers concerned weren’t even on the identical staff because the drivers who benefitted from shenanigans, however producers have a lot sway over the game now, Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon cannot even take into consideration taking that place from William Byron, despite the fact that they’re racers — they wish to end as excessive as doable. Then there’s Bubba Wallace who claimed one thing was mistaken together with his automobile, however clearly, NASCAR noticed that declare as race manipulation as nicely.
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These are two issues colliding directly — the ever-tightening alignment between groups of the identical producer, and NASCAR’s present championship format exhibiting the uglier facet of that.
None of what occurred on that closing lap was racing, and it was solely occurring due to this format. NASCAR’s newest format forces Recreation 7 moments main to those conditions the place drivers are put in uncomfortable positions the place they need to be extra anxious in regards to the playoff drivers and what’s occurring of their race than what’s occurring in their very own. And attributable to how tightly aligned groups at the moment are by way of producer loyalty, it is like three tremendous groups on the market — Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota — on the observe at this level of the season.
Hey, if it was the No. 48 HMS Chevy of Alex Bowman behind Byron, I really feel like I would be much less pissed off with all of this. After all a teammate goes to assist, similar to Ryan Blaney performed blocker for Logano within the 2022 title-decider as an alternative of going for the win himself. However why ought to Dillon and Chastain have to fret about Byron? As a result of all of them drive for a similar automobile make and that supersedes the whole lot else in 2024. Individuals are mad at these drivers, however what selection did they’ve?
#24: William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, Liberty College Chevrolet Camaro, #3: Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Bass Professional Outlets Chevrolet Camaro
Picture by: John Okay Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Photos
Keep in mind how Parker Retzlaff confronted criticism as a result of he tried to win at Daytona earlier this 12 months? He needed to publicly clarify why a younger driver in a automobile that hardly ever contends for race wins tried to win a race. And why? As a result of his late-race push to Harrison Burton price fellow Chevy driver Kyle Busch a win — and an automated playoff berth. Even followers have been mad!
This insanity has now bled into the fanbase, who absolutely count on producer allegiances to trump the whole lot else in these crucial races. And what what occurred at Martinsville will not cease except NASCAR places a cease to it. These factors penalties and fines and one-race suspensions for the dangerous actors are usually not going to cease this. Like in 2022, when NASCAR issued a penalty to Stewart-Haas Racing for a similar factor. In the event that they wished to make an actual assertion, they’d have thrown the No. 24 and the No. 20 out of the Championship 4 on Sunday evening. SpinGate in 2013 didn’t finish with Clint Bowyer’s penalty. NASCAR took Martin Truex Jr. — who benefitted from the interference however had nothing to do with it — and eliminated him from the playoffs.
That is extra in regards to the format itself however folks have been shocked when Chastain selected to race for the win final 12 months at Phoenix as an alternative of bowing to the Championship 4 drivers. If drivers cannot race for the win, why are the non-contenders even on the market “competing?” May as nicely simply race with the title contenders and nobody else just like the 2006 Vehicles film.
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