NASCAR EVP Steve O’Donnell Throws Light on Penalty Rumors

In 2022, NASCAR will enter a new era. Not only is the Next Gen car ready to take stock car racing to the next level and into a new future, but the executives and the rule makers at NASCAR are also using this opportunity to shake things up a little.

One of those things is the subject of penalties for violation of vendor-supplied parts.

During the ongoing testing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR EVP Steve O’Donnell described how nothing is certain as for the penalty rumors. The rumors were about a playoff ban and such, to which O’Donnell remained cagey.

He said, “Everything is on the table in terms of playoff points. And we only wanna make sure that the penalty matters if we have to go that route.”

“Our message is clear in terms of the direction we’re gonna go,” he added.

O’Donnell explained, “We’re hopeful that we don’t have to do that. But we’ve put everybody on notice that this is the culture shift. This is why we went to this car as well.”

He said they expect all the teams and drivers to follow the rules in the new era, so everyone can “learn together”.

O’Donnell explains NASCAR wants teams and drivers to take over the racing

Steve O’Donnell insisted that the inspection process and procedures are changing with this car. He said, “The inspection process at the track, it used to be if we’ll be able to get away with it and go racing, that’s not the case with this car.”

“We’ve built this car to try and make it as fundamentally sound as possible in collaboration with the teams and then really put it on teams, and drivers..to go out there and win races.”

He explained how NASCAR doesn’t want to be in “parts manufacturing business” or in the wind tunnel. They simply want one thing which is at the core of the sport itself – “We wanna see people get out there and perform on the track.” 

So, how do you think the next season pans out for NASCAR?

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