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Faced with seemingly irrefutable evidence of race manipulation at Sunday’s playoff race at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR announced that has launched an investigation into several of its teams.
The investigation surrounds several in-car radio messages that heavily imply that drivers ceded positions late in the race in order to influence the series’ playoff outcome.
Sunday’s race was the final of three in the NASCAR Cup Series’ round of eight. Six drivers entered the race vying for two remaining spots in next week’s Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway.
Ultimately, defending series champion Ryan Blaney claimed one of the two spots with a victory. While the other was not decided until after the race when NASCAR levied a penalty on Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell.
The penalty broke a deadlock on points between Bell and Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron, giving Byron the final spot in the championship race. Bell would have taken the final spot via tiebreaker if not for the penalty.
NASCAR To Investigate Claims Of Race Manipulation By Chevy And Toyota Teams
In the final laps of the race, Byron held a narrow lead on points over Bell. However, he began to fall back through the field and looked as if he’d lose that lead.
Thankfully for Byron, fellow Chevrolet drivers Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain seemingly conspired to stay behind Byron, putting him in the field over Bell.
However, once Toyota driver Bubba Wallace caught wind of that, he appeared to slow significantly, allowing Bell to pass him in the final turn of the race and take the final championship spot from Byron.
Bell was ultimately disqualified for what NASCAR deemed was a safety violation for his last-ditch pass of Wallace. The series applied a rule instituted after Chastain’s legendary “wall ride” pass at Martinsville in 2022.
Now, however, it’s set to look into Dillon, Chastain, and Wallace.
“The No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet piloted by Ross Chastain, the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon and the No. 23 Toyota of 23XI Racing wheeled by Bubba Wallace all fall under scrutiny for how they raced in the closing laps of Sunday’s Xfinity 500,” a NASCAR statement read.
NASCAR did not mention an investigation into Kaulig Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen was previously involved in an incident with Blaney. Later in the race, his team instructed him to “remember” the incident as a direct message from Chevy.
Van Gisbergen, to his credit, did not appear to act on the message.