NASCAR director gives surprising response to Atlanta controversy

In the second race of the season, NASCAR found itself embroiled in controversy after the Atlanta Cup Series race. This week on Hauler Talk, the Managing Director and Sr. Director of Racing Communications are back to explain the call.

Kudos to NASCAR for introducing this podcast this season. Having these things explained quickly and in a fairly open form is a big deal. Not all sports leagues would be willing to do something like this.

This week, Managing Director Mike Forde and Sr. Director Amanda Ellis explained what happened in Atlanta, and the big difference between Saturday night and Sunday.

“So, we’re talking about it again,” Forde said. “So, we let it go green on Saturday evening in the Xfinity race … Once that happened, a chain of communication really took place between NASCAR competition and the industry on how we should look at the last lap and if there’s a wreck.”

Amanda Ellis added her side of the weekend. She was in race control looking over the Xfinity Series race as it ended.

“Yeah, and I will say as you mentioned, I was in race control, end of a race moves very quickly,” Ellis said. “When we had Austin Hill cross the finish line you knew you had a wreck as well … There’s a lot of moving parts that really kick into play and start taking place. We’re dispatching equipment, we’re also trying to capture the field, you’re trying to bring the field down pit road, then you move into a technical inspection.

“So, there’s just a lot of things that are happening in those moments. And honestly, I’m not afraid to admit, I didn’t think that last lap wreck was that bad. I recognize watching the replays and kind of seeing some of the vantage points we have in hindsight, I do understand why we feel like we should have thrown the caution and we said, that’s on us. But in the first few moments after that, I didn’t necessarily think it was that bad because I knew we were able to dispatch the equipment on the backstretch to make sure we got to the drivers and things like that. However, looking at the replays we now see some other things that we’re not comfortable with.”

Ellis went on to explain that there was an outpour of calls, texts, and messages from drivers and teams afterward. Not just Xfinity Series, but Cup Series as well wondering what would happen the next day in their race.

That input from drivers as well as the replays convinced NASCAR they made a mistake. It is good if NASCAR is saying, we’re going to throw the caution for safety. Last lap or not, driver safety has to be a top priority.

While it is great to have Hauler Talk each week, I do have a gripe. This is two weeks in a row to start the season where NASCAR has come out and said, we made a mistake. Whether it was throwing the caution in the Duel 2 race or not throwing it in the Atlanta Xfinity Series race.

Opening the year with Daytona and Atlanta back to back I think is a good thing. It puts very exciting racing on for casual and new fans. With two drafting tracks to start the year, seeing consistent officiating isn’t too much to ask.

NASCAR makes good arguments. Driver safety is very important. But it is two weeks into the year and it already feels like a pattern is forming. Coming to the right conclusion but two days too late.