NASCAR heads into its championship weekend locked into a federal antitrust lawsuit with NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan. Its officiating has been under months-long scrutiny, and this week it issued a wave of hefty fines for alleged race manipulation in the final playoff qualifier.
But those national series races have become a sideshow to the off-track drama that has engulfed NASCAR the last several months. The four drivers who are competing in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale have tuned out the distractions, starting with Tyler Reddick , who made the final four for the first time in his career and is trying to give Jordan his first championship since Jordan became a team owner in 2021.
Ryan Blaney, the reigning NASCAR champion who is seeking to become the first driver to go back-to-back since Jimmie Johnson won five Cup titles in a row from 2006 through 2010, said the off-track issues have nothing at all to do with him or Team Penske. Blaney and teammate Joey Logano give Ford and Roger Penske a 50% chance to win a third consecutive Cup title.
“I think during the race, we are here to crown a champion and I can’t imagine us talking about anything other than that,” said analyst Jeff Burton, who said play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey is unlikely to declare Reddick the winner in the same breath as “but there’s a lawsuit!”NASCAR on Tuesday levied $600,000 in fines and suspended nine members of three different Cup teams for alleged manipulation at Martinsville Speedway last weekend.
NASCAR also ruled Tuesday that fellow Chevrolet drivers Chastain and Austin Dillon acted as blockers for Byron over the final few laps to prevent anyone from taking position from him. But at Talladega, after a 28-car crash brought out the red flag, NASCAR struggled to control the cleanup. Numerous damaged cars were stranded with flat tires and then-playoff contenders Chase Elliott and Briscoe were towed back to their stalls to allow for repairs.
NASCAR Racing Ryan Blaney William Byron NC State Wire Auto Racing FL State Wire AZ State Wire Sports Ty Majeski North Carolina Tar Heels Tyler Reddick Phoenix Christopher Bell Joey Logano North Carolina Jimmie Johnson
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