Chase Elliott’s suspension begs the question: Should car data affect penalties?

Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR insider

MADISON, Illinois – Chase Elliott denied deliberate revenge against Denny Hamlin.

That statement failed the eye test, but sometimes that statement would be enough to deter NASCAR from issuing a fine.

But with all the data that every team — and the broadcast networks — have on every car, NASCAR giving it the benefit of the doubt has largely disappeared.

Hamlin didn’t even wait until the Charlotte race was over on Monday to post the Elliott car’s steering, throttle and braking data to show that it was done on purpose to hook it right rear.

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All teams and NASCAR have that record, but Hamlin would show “the receipts” of why he felt this way when he pleaded for a one-race suspension for Elliott.

Less than 24 hours after the incident, NASCAR notified Elliott that he would be suspended from Sunday’s race at Gateway.

“If the eye test and the data match, it’s usually pretty straightforward,” Hamlin said. “They use it to monitor reboots and such.”

Most of the drivers who responded to the suspension understood that with the data available, NASCAR will use it. Drivers varied on how much NASCAR should rely on the data.

“Things are moving very fast,” said Charlotte race winner Ryan Blaney. “You don’t know someone’s emotions. You don’t know if – and I’m not saying this was the situation – something was broken or if it was a real mistake.

“I don’t think you can rely heavily on data. You might be able to look at that, but then you have to look at the situation, you have to watch videos of it — I think there’s a lot more to it.”

Table of Contents

Blaney weighs Elliott

Ryan Blaney discusses data, how much it should be used in decision making and how drivers can use it to lobby for penalties.

In recent decades, drivers have been given the benefit of the doubt. Now with the data, the benefit of the doubt becomes much weaker.

“I brought up data when Joey Logano wrecked me in 2017 and they didn’t give two s—-,” Kyle Busch said of an incident in Las Vegas. “It’s just a matter of I think enough drivers have probably done where they were, ‘OK, we should probably look at this and figure it out.’

“So I think that’s fine. That’s good.”

Kevin Harvick also said he felt records could have shown that Elliott should have been penalized for impeding his achievement of the leader at Bristol a few years ago.

“They learned in Bristol to use the data,” Harvick said. “Since Bristol and understand everything that happened there and said they didn’t understand the data at the time, they’ve done a good job trying to use the data.

“It’s there. It’s a free opinion to be able to look at it. You have to use the data.”

Data usage for fines?

Kevin Harvick indicated that it is better for NASCAR to use data to determine penalties.

While fans don’t have access to all steering, throttle, and brake data for every team at the same time, teams and broadcasters have the option to show it off. And that’s why the integrity of the sport depends on NASCAR’s use, Brad Keselowski pointed out.

Keselowski compared it to other sports that now use instant replay after years of fans being able to see the replays but officials unable to use them.

“You see in other sports that if fans have access to a tool that shows something, they expect the referee to connect with that,” said Keselowski.

“We’ve seen that in baseball and football where they have replays and officials didn’t have that and the officials didn’t even watch the replays and that created a rift between the fans and the officiating that wasn’t healthy.”

Blaney doesn’t want drivers to argue their case with data alone.

“It’s definitely something I’m sure everyone will be, … ‘Look what this guy did to me. There’s his records. He was wide open. He never lifted. He turned right or left,’” said Blaney. . “I don’t think you need to delve into this too much.

“Honestly, you know when you’re going to break. The data side is out there for all the world to see and it’s a good tool to use if you want to get someone in trouble. It’s almost like chatting to the CEO to be honest. “

In this case, the director more or less knew what was happening. And they have suspended their most popular driver. It was the same punishment meted out to Bubba Wallace last year when he made a similar move to bust Kyle Larson.

“It would be difficult to talk to Denny [Hamlin] or Bubba or someone else and say, “Hey, it wasn’t OK for Bubba to do it and it’s OK for Chase to do it,” said NASCAR President Steve Phelps.

“We hate it, but it’s a call we had to make.”

Thinking out loud

NASCAR granted an exemption to Chase Elliott to remain in playoff eligibility despite missing Sunday’s race due to an abusive retaliation suspension against Denny Hamlin six days earlier.

It is thought to make the penalty more impactful, perhaps a driver should not be given an exemption – and therefore ineligible for the playoffs.

Hamlin understands the Elliott ban

Denny Hamlin thinks Chase Elliott’s one-race suspension is appropriate and said the two have spoken about the incident.

That could be the next step if drivers snag others right back. But right now it seems a bit too serious to take away a driver’s playoff eligibility for lack of judgment in less than a second.

If NASCAR wants to dock playoff points or maybe even suspend the driver for the first playoff race (making it harder to get out of the first round), that could be a good next step.

But for most behavioral penalties, taking away a chance at a championship just seems too much – not just for the driver, but for the team’s potential relationships with sponsors.

In the news

–Chase Briscoe said the massive punishment NASCAR imposed on his team was justified as NASCAR found a counterfeit channel in Briscoe’s Stewart-Haas Racing car after Charlotte. NASCAR recorded Briscoe 120 regular season points and 25 playoff points while fined crew chief John Klausmeier $250,000 and suspended Klausmeier for six races. SHR performance director Mike Bugarewicz is the interim crew chief for Briscoe.

–Corey Heim, who leads the truck series standings, missed Saturday’s race at WWTR Gateway through illness, but maintained the points lead. NASCAR granted a waiver for Heim to remain in playoff eligibility, and with no new truck race until June 23 at the Nashville Superspeedway, he should be ready to return.

Social spotlight

Statistics of the day

Kyle Busch now has a career-high 63 wins – his win at Gateway on Sunday was his ninth from the start on the pole.

They said it

“We’ve had three wins, of course, which is great. But we’ve also had some of the gloomy days. We’ve had ups and downs so far this year.” —Kyle Busch on his first season with Richard Childress Racing.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpock breedand sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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