Home

NASCAR

15-Year-Old ARCA Driver Faces Strict Penalties from NASCAR After Breaking Rules at Daytona

Published 01/18/2021, 5:00 AM EST

Follow Us

via Imago

Recently, Taylor Gray potentially jeopardized his career after a silly stunt. Apparently, the potential future NASCAR prospect filmed himself driving an ARCA Menards car at the Daytona International Speedway during a test session. To damn himself even further, he went on to post the video on social media.

On the bright side, Gray appeared to be the only driver on the track. Nevertheless, he still broke a cardinal rule in NASCAR, which forbade drivers from filming themselves while driving. This applies during tests, practice, or race situations and blankets all series, including ARCA.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The ARCA Menards youngster will face punishment from NASCAR

Obviously, the 15-year-old will not go unpunished, as the sport has penalized drivers for the offense.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Exclusive Invite for NASCAR Community

EssentiallySports gives you the power to decide who drives the #14 on 20th April

Even though he was all alone on the track, it was still terrible to use a mobile phone while driving. These drivers are expected to be role models, and Gray was setting a bad example for his fans. It is worth mentioning that he was not the only one to be caught doing this. Apparently, Formula 3 driver Alessio Deledda was also found to be recording himself speeding in a road car.

Another nail on the coffin was Gray’s age, as he was ineligible to race in the ARCA Series. Despite this, he sneaked into an ARCA test session on Friday and Saturday. Of course, it falls on NASCAR to penalize the driver however it seems fit. Considering that he was going at nearly 170 miles an hour, he posed a danger on the track.

via Getty

Back in March 2020, Taylor Gray made his first ARCA start after he turned 15. Since then, he has had 11 top-10 finishes and eight top-five finishes. As per the regulations, the ARCA Series allows drivers between the ages of 15 and 18 to race at oval tracks and road courses.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Hopefully Gray can learn from his misdemeanour. After all, he is still a young and impressionable driver, so he will be repentant. However, it just proves that the sport needs to crack down hard in order to avoid a repeat.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Dhruv George

14,311Articles

One take at a time

Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
Show More>