NASCAR managing director defends track limit communication, fires back to dispel rumor

NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran said the sanctioning body communicated the track limit rule to drivers ahead of Sunday’s race at COTA and received “no questions” concerning any confusion over explanation of the rule.

And yet, drivers were confused about which turns they could short-cut and which turns NASCAR was policing the rule. Specifically, the esses at Turns 3, 4 and 5 going into 6. Moran felt they had communicated the rule clearly, and vowed to “not make that error again.”

“We did a lot of work communicating and felt we were in a good place and then going into the Cup race on Sunday, in the first stage we caught on a team’s scanner they weren’t sure about short-cutting Turn 6. Obviously, we watched it take place from the beginning of the race, and we didn’t have an issue with it,” Moran said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “At that point, we have a communication system from the tower that can go to all the teams on pit road penalties or any other messages. … We did fire out just to confirm we’re not policing Turn 6. And then from that point on, it played out well.

“But there was some confusion because we had a lot of teams that didn’t have questions, and I think we had a few that did have questions, and that’s our responsibility to make sure all the competitors understand. We will not make that error again. We’ll make sure that everybody totally understands. A lot of changes took place from Thursday, Friday, very close to the race. And we dealt with it as quickly as we could. I guess broadcast as well was on the same page as a few of the teams.”

Drivers in utter confusion over NASCAR track limits at COTA amid mixed messages

After Stage 1, Kyle Busch said over his radio he noticed multiple times drivers cutting the course in Turn 6. No drivers were penalized during Stage 1 for cutting the course in Turn 6. Why was that the case? Well, NASCAR informed teams they are only enforcing track limits in Turns 3, 4 and 5. Turn 6 was “wide open” to cut the course, NASCAR told Richard Childress Racing.

NASCAR told drivers in the prerace meeting, “Vehicles must run the full course at all times. You will be judged as missing or shortcutting when all four tires are on the non-track side of the red and white rumble strips that define the apex of the turns,” per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. Gluck added there was nothing in the drivers meeting about which turns would be officiated.

Almost immediately after Stage 2 began and NASCAR reclarified its policy on track limits, Kyle Larson fell victim. Larson cut Turn 3 and was penalized. When he was hit with the penalty, Larson said, “I didn’t know they were calling 3.”

Kyle Busch rips NASCAR for track limit confusion

Busch called out NASCAR after the race over the confusion.

“I heard they were gonna police Turns 4, 5 and 6, and then it turned into 3, 4, 5. And yesterday, it was only 4 and 5. They ain’t got a clue,” Busch said, via Frontstretch.

Moran emphatically shut down the rumor that NASCAR changed the track limit rule ahead of Sunday’s race.

“I think there were some rumors out there that we changed the rule — no, we didn’t change the rules throughout the entire weekend,” Moran said. “We called 43 disallowed Cup practice penalties through sections 3, 4, 5 and not one through 6. Again, we just assumed it was very clear. We were caught off guard a bit when the question came up. There were many drivers involved with this track; think we had nine of them in the hauler on Saturday after the track walk in the morning.

“I think what happened is we just isolated certain drivers in a large group over six months, but it didn’t include everybody and that’s on us. I’ll make sure that one doesn’t get through again.”