Enough's Enough with these NASCAR Penalties

This week, following the race at Kansas, Kyle Larson and his car chief were penalized for a Rear Window Support Brace being too low. Two more Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams were slapped with L1 penalties for their Rear Window Support Braces being illegal at Dover. The 19 team of Daniel Suarez and the 14 team of Clint Bowyer lost their car chiefs for two races and saw their crew chiefs each face $50,000 fines, the same penalty Larson is facing.

There have now been five such infractions as Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott each encountered infractions at Las Vegas and Texas, respectively.

Teams have pushed the envelope and competed in the gray area for as long as any NASCAR fan can remember however there is something fishy about this recent string of infractions. Teams obviously know that other teams are pushing too far. One would think that given the amount of teams being caught, the rest of the competition would be more careful to not violate the rule.

Stewart-Haas Racing VP of Competition, Greg Zipadelli claimed that the infraction on the 14 car was caused by wear and tear, as well as track conditions, stating that, “It had no competitive impact, and our racecar fit all the templates and passed all the inspections throughout the race weekend, including pre- and post-race.” Larson’s team believes their infraction was caused by contact with the 12 car of Ryan Blaney, after which the 42 car hit the wall.

It’s time for NASCAR to take a look at the rule, and how they are enforcing it. While it is difficult to prove intent, there has to be a reason why all of these cars are failing for the same violation week after week. Maybe the structural integrity of the cars is not up to snuff, and the window braces do indeed falter after racing on rough tracks or after contact with another car.

The sactioning body can’t keep assuming that all of these teams are making these changes on purpose, especially if there is no competitive advantage as Zipadelli states. NASCAR changed the way it inspects cars this season with new precision laser templates. They better make some more changes or loosen the rules a little, because these penalties are getting ridiculous.

This is not to suggest that NASCAR should let the inmates run the asylum and make or change whichever rules they want, but when there is a consistent stream of violations of the same rule, it’s probably more than teams just trying to push the envelope or live in the gray area.