William Sawalich was pretty direct when he threatened Corey Day after their Darlington incident. “We’ll see how the rest of your Chase goes,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver told him. And it turned out to be the right choice of words, considering no action was taken against him despite his doing exactly what he hinted he was going to do: wreck the Hendrick Motorsports talent. Former Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, although not surprised!

In an interview with veteran journalist Bob Pockrass ahead of the Bristol night race on Saturday, the RFK Racing driver opined that NASCAR has made it pretty clear where “the line” is.

“There are two lines in the sport that they’ve established. One, you can wreck anybody as long as you don’t hit them in the right rear, and two, you can run anybody as long as you don’t say anything over the radio,” Keselowski said, as shared on Pockrass’ X account.

The first is one of NASCAR’s biggest unspoken rules. You don’t hook a driver on their right rear because, with cars running at speeds close to 200 mph on ovals, a slight nudge could send them spinning into the wall at very high speed. In the past, the sanctioning body has taken extreme measures against drivers who have made similar moves.

In 2022, Bubba Wallace was suspended for one race after he hooked Kyle Larson’s right-rear bumper at Las Vegas. Both drivers went headfirst into the wall at around 180 mph, with Christopher Bell becoming collateral damage in the incident. Similarly, the following year, Chase Elliott was suspended for making a similar move on Denny Hamlin at Charlotte.

There is almost zero tolerance for this move, and drivers across the national series know that. The gray area, however, comes when it comes to determining a driver’s intent. That’s why Keselowski says that, as long as you’re quiet, you are on the clear. This is what happened.

So, Corey Day and William Sawalich crossed paths again at Gateway. On Lap 134, Justin Allgaier’s nudge sent Day drifting into Sawalich, and the new rivals wasted little time settling the score. Sawalich moved left, spun Day into the inside SAFER barrier and ended his race.

Even though everyone was wary of Sawalich’s intentions, given he spelled out in words, no action was taken against him. NASCAR classified the incident as a racing incident, considering their history, allowing Sawalich to get off scot-free.

Keselowski’s point would be well supported by what happened to his teammate Ryan Preece in Texas earlier this year. Preece was having a torrid time with Ty Gibbs as the two continued rubbing wheels, and at one point, the frustrated driver said over the radio that when he got to the JGR driver, “he was done.” Sure enough, Gibbs was wrecked by Preece later in the race, with the No. 60 driver being docked 25 points and fined $50,000.

Keselowski would do well to remember the “line” he mentioned, as he also warned Hocevar after the Darlington race that “his day was coming.” Given that Keselowski understands how important it is to stay silent on the radio, it raises the possibility that if he gets close to the Spire driver on the track, he could choose to settle the score quietly, much like Sawalich did.

As for the 19-year-old JGR talent, he and Day were both asked to meet officials in a hauler before their race in Bristol this weekend. The details of their conversation were kept private, but both drivers got to speak their minds, with Day admitting that they both agreed on what they did.

While Sawalich and Day have now had the chance to clear the air, Keselowski’s comments show that NASCAR’s unwritten rules are not always so simple.