Following last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Trackhouse Racing teammates and Playoff contenders Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen drove through the grass numerous times on their way back to pit road.
It was a peculiar move, but one that may have been made to ensure the cars, which finished 24th and 25th respectively, didn’t have any issues clearing post-race weights in inspection after the 300-mile event. Teams will frequently attempt to pick up chunks of rubber on the track surface on their way back to pit road to add an extra layer of weight security in post-race inspection.
Corey LaJoie, a longtime NASCAR competitor, opined in a response on X that he felt the moves by Trackhouse Racing after the checkered flag were made in an effort to pick up additional weight for the post-race scales.
“They post all the Playoff cars [in inspection],” LaJoie said. “Trying to pick up a couple pounds of grass, rocks, rubber to let you[r] car chief feel a little better when you roll across the scale.”
Last season, Alex Bowman initially worked his way into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, but in post-race inspection, his car came up too light on the scales, which led to Bowman being disqualified.
Bowman’s disqualification led to Joey Logano advancing into the Round of 8 of the Playoffs. Logano would go on to win his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Now, it’s hard for NASCAR to police drivers and teams using what is available on the track surface, such as chunks of rubber, to attempt to skirt the weight-requirement rules. But if what Trackhouse Racing did on Sunday was indeed an effort to pick up chunks of grass, dirt, and whatnot, to add weight to their cars, it went beyond the confines of the racing line and stuck out like a sore thumb.
The bizarre post-race move didn’t get past NASCAR Cup Series Director Brad Moran, who explained on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive on Tuesday that the sanctioning body will have a conversation with Trackhouse Racing about the post-race shenanigans at Gateway.
“We’ll be having some discussions with Trackhouse in management as well as their crew chiefs, and we’ll be giving all the teams some information regarding that this week,” Moran said.
Moran continued, “We have rules that could put the teams in a real bad spot when we see that. So, we’ll make it pretty clear to them, moving forward, starting at Bristol, what that means,” Moran stated.
Obviously, running through the grass post-race will be a non-issue this weekend at the high-banked 0.533-mile concrete Bristol Motor Speedway, which has no infield grass, but the conversation will definitely draw a line in the sand for the team and other teams moving forward.
Heading into this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which will serve as the final race of the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Chastain sits 19 points above the Playoff cutline, while van Gisbergen finds himself 15 points below the cutline.
12 drivers will advance to the next round of the Playoffs following Saturday night’s race at Bristol.
