NASCAR penalizes Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain after controversial Martinsville finish

NASCAR has penalized the teams of Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain for their actions during the Cup Series playoff race at Martinsville on Sunday. NASCAR announced that all three teams have been penalized for violating its code of conduct. The crew chief, and spotter of each car, as well as a team executive from each organization, have been suspended from Sunday’s race in Phoenix. Additionally, teams have been assessed with the loss of 50 driver and owner points, and the drivers and owners of each car have been fined $100,000.

During the Martinsville race, Wallace was told the points situation between William Byron and Christopher Bell, two drivers competing for the final spot in the Cup Series Championship race. Wallace then radioed that he was having a tire issue, leading him to slow down to “nurse” it.

NEWS: The Nos. 1, 3, and 23 teams have been penalized for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct at @MartinsvilleSwy.

The crew chief and spotter of each car, as well as a team executive from each organization, have been suspended for this weekend’s race in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/rMY7TAiFS7

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 5, 2024

Dillon and Chastain were informed about Byron since all three are Chevrolet teammates. Per Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, NASCAR tore down Wallace’s car to see if there were any mechanical issues. Pockrass also said it was hard to predict any punishment for Dillon and Chsitan since there is no blocking rule and they didn’t lose spots.

When the race ended, Byron and Bell finished in a tie for playoff points, and Bell had the tiebreaker. However, NASCAR penalized Bell for his wall-riding move during the final lap of the Martinsville race, leading to him being eliminated from the playoffs and Byron earning the final spot in the Championship 4.

Christopher Bell talks about NASCAR penalizing him at Martinsville

“It was Martinsville, and it was a Round of 8 cutoff race,” Bell said after the race, per NASCAR.com. “Unfortunately, I was on the bad side of it. Made a lot of mistakes, ran a sloppy race. It is a shame that it comes down to a ball-and-strike call like that.

“You can look at both sides of the fence — the Chevy organization had a lot of blocking going on so that the 24 (Byron) didn’t lose positions. I slid into the wall (on the final lap) and kept my foot into it. I guess that is a losing move.”

“He rode the wall, and there’s a clear rule against riding the wall,” Byron said. “In my eyes, that’s what counts. … We all sat in meetings and talked about whether there should be a rule against it. His (Bell’s) front tires were off the ground coming off (Turn) 4 there, against the fence.”

Ryan Blaney won the Martinsville race and will join Byron, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick in the Championship 4 at Phoenix on Sunday.