NASCAR plans to address intentional spins that bring out the caution; Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart comment
Kyle Larson was rolling in 4th late in the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway. On Lap 238, he pitted under green for four new tires.
Just a handful of laps later, Bubba Wallace collected a flat tire. He spun intentionally going into the corner in an attempt to bring out the caution.
NASCAR didn’t bite. Wallace had it rolling straight once again. He decided to try again. This time he spun off the corner and made light contact with the inside wall in doing so.
NASCAR dropped the caution flag and Kyle Larson went from 4th to being trapped a lap down.
Bringing out the caution intentionally, is a penalty. In this case, there was no call.
Kyle Larson on intentional spins to bring out the yellow
“It’s B.S.,” Larson said after Texas Motor Speedway. “I’ve done it. We’ve all done it in those positions, but until NASCAR steps in, and whether it’s a fine or a penalty with points or something, people are still going to do it.”
“It just sucks,” Larson added.
Intentionally bringing out a caution, is a penalty. Dale Earnhardt Jr was once penalized at Bristol Motor Speedway for spinning on purpose.
In this case, NASCAR did review the call. They elected that it wasn’t a call.
“That was very obvious he was spinning on purpose,” Larson continued. “He turned right and left to spin out. So when it’s blatant and that obvious, I think it’s pretty easy for them to notice it and make a call on it.”
“I think Helen Keller could have seen that.”
Driver across all divisions of motorsports are known to bring out intentional yellows, in various ways. In dirt racing, it just means slowing down.
Kyle Larson admitted to doing the same thing back in 2016 at Eldora Speedway. He slowed to cause a caution. However, in that case, NASCAR penalized him a lap.
“We’re all guilty of doing it,” Larson said. “But until NASCAR does something else about it, or does anything or something, we’re going to continue to do it.”
Tony Stewart on drivers bringing intentional yellows
Stewart-Haas Racing drove to victory lane on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. I wouldn’t say the caution benefited them but their day wasn’t killed by it.
After the race, Tony Stewart shared his thoughts:
“I feel like NASCAR is backed in a corner on scenarios like this,” Tony Stewart said.
“There’s so many ball‑and‑strike calls that they’re put in the position of having to make, I think they’ve got to find a way to make it simpler to where it is what it is.”
“Bubba wasn’t working for any team, any manufacturer. He was trying to take care of himself in that scenario. It could work for you one week. It could work against you the next week. It’s just part of it.”
“At what point do you sit there and say, ‘enough is enough?’ At some point, we’ve got to somewhat adopt the old‑time tradition of ‘keep it simple, stupid.’ It’s just got to be simplified.”
“They shouldn’t have to sit up there and babysit every single thing that everybody does all the time. There’s enough rules and regulations that they have to do to need to be in place, let alone the things that they shouldn’t have to be put in those positions.
“I mean, you can ask 10 different people, they’re going to give you 10 different answers on it.”
NASCAR reacts to drivers intentionally bringing out the yellow
“Well it’s going be a judgment call, for sure,”NASCAR EVP Steve O’Donnell stated via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
“I think that’s something you know as momentum builds or you see a trend and you’ve got to react, you do.”
“We tend to trust the teams out there and the drivers maybe too much at times. But we’ll certainly take a look at that. Obviously, didn’t make a call during the race Sunday.”
“If it’s something we’ve got to address, we’ll talk to the drivers and race teams over the week. If we need to address it, we will in the driver’s meeting ahead of Sunday’s race (this weekend) and make sure we’re staying on top of that.”
Bubba Wallace spins on purpose
Texas Motor Speedway
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Kyle Larson | Bubba Wallace | Tony Stewart | Texas Motor Speedway | NASCAR
