NASCAR will not be implementing a rule ahead of its championship race weekend to prevent a driver from trying the wall-riding move Ross Chastain deftly executed on the final lap at Martinsville.
It makes sense that NASCAR wouldn’t rush to ban Chastain’s move this week. Any rule would likely be hasty and NASCAR officials likely don’t have enough time to hash out various scenarios and possible loopholes. Any rule of this nature is best implemented over the offseason with plenty of deliberation.
But O’Donnell’s stated reasoning for not implementing a rule ahead of Phoenix doesn’t hold up well to basic scrutiny to anyone with a working knowledge of how quickly and frequently rules change in NASCAR’s three series. “Looking at it, it was a move within the bounds of the rule book and really don’t think it’s right to adjust the rules when for 35 points races we’ve been one way and throw a wrinkle in it for the 36th,” O’Donnell said.
Adding a rule to prevent the replication of Chastain’s move at Phoenix wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a sanctioning body that has frequently made midseason changes when issues with the rules have come up. Just this year, NASCAR changed its in-race rules for damaged cars ahead of the playoffs. And the 36th Cup Series race of the season is, by the nature of the playoffs, run on different terms than any other race during the playoffs. Plus different tracks have different rules. Drivers can run on the apron at tracks like Phoenix and Auto Club to gain time but they can’t do so at Daytona and Talladega. A temporary rule for Phoenix would hardly be a break in NASCAR precedent.
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