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NASCAR exec explains why Brad Keselowski wasn't punished for driving in circles during red flag

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•09/01/23•

SamraSource

Brad Keselowski
© Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR VP of Competition Elton Sawyer provided some context into why Brad Keselowski wasn’t penalized for a hilarious moment during Saturday’s showdown at Daytona.

Under the red flag, Keselowski was caught driving in circles, while the rest of the field waiting for instruction. It was a funny moment, but it begged the question of whether the former NASCAR champion could be penalized for moving under the red flag.

Evidently, Sawyer and company looked into it and came to the decision to let Keselowski be, as he wasn’t advancing his position.

“You know obviously we’re under red flag conditions, and our pace car driver, when he was making laps there, he had noticed that the No. 6, there was smoke coming out of it. I don’t know if we actually ever witnessed any actual fire, but there was smoke. Brad, you’ve got to give Brad a lot of credit there. Creativity there,” explained Sawyer, via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “So he just starts doing circles, and we look up from the tower and say, ‘What is going on?’ And you know, as that all unfolded, you think about, ‘Okay, what — is there a penalty there?’ And well, he’s not advancing his position, and all in all you just give Brad a lot of credit. We sat there in the tower thinking, ‘There isn’t a penalty there. He hasn’t advanced his position.’ Obviously he was completely away from the incident, where we had vehicles cleaning up, and attending to drivers.

“So we looked at it and actually commended Brad, for being able to do that. Think on his feet, if you will. To not make that situation any worse.”

If Brad Keselowski would’ve been penalized for simply driving in circles, it would’ve certainly aided NASCAR’s reputation as the fun police. Thankfully, Keselowski was able to create a memorable moment hassle-free, and drivers may be free to drive in circles as they please moving forward.

Elton Sawyer addresses possibility of removing grass at Daytona

Continuing, the incident involving Ryan Preece during Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona has NASCAR VP of Competition Elton Sawyer addressing the possibility of removing grass at the track.

With just five laps remaining in the race, Preece spun out and barrel-rolled through the infield on the backstretch. Preece was placed on a stretcher before he was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the care center. He was later transported to the Halifax Health Medical Center before being discharged Sunday morning.

On Tuesday, Sawyer addressed the possibility of removing the grass to prevent wrecks like the one involving Preece from happening in the future.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Sawyer responded, asked if there’s been conversations regarding removing grass from Daytona, via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think you look at all of that stuff. Again, we look at the facility. We’ll look at the safer barrier, and where we put the tire packs, and where there’s grass and there’s asphalt. How our vehicles get to those areas. All of those things, we look at. 

“We’ve had good collaboration with the facilities. … Just to make sure we have the safest environment for our competitors and our fans. But yes, absolutely that will be something that will be discussed.”

Evidently, there could be some big changes coming to Daytona. The removal of grass would be huge, as it’s become synonymous with the track over the last couple decades.