“Charging $50,000 to Contend for the Championship” – NASCAR Accused of Selling Out to Hendrick Motorsports by Bubba Wallace’s Spotter After William Byron Appeal

Punishment must always fit the crime is the saying. For a massive global brand like Hendrick Motorsports, is a $50,000 or $100,000 penalty not akin to a slap on the wrist when put in perspective of the larger picture?

At Round 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, taking place at the Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR had a big decision to make. What would the penalty be for spinning someone off at such a crucial stage?

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron had spun out Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin under the yellow flag. NASCAR first came out and said they had missed the incident and thus no penalties would be awarded.

They later docked 25 points and penalized $50,000 from the team. But by their own admission, if they had seen the incident during the race they would either have asked Byron to go to the back of the pack or asked Hamlin to retain his position prior to the incident.

This is where they missed the trick. It made it easier for Hendrick to appeal against such a decision. National Motorsports Appeals Panel (NMAP) agreed with Hendrick’s argument – the 25-point penalty was too steep; they reinstated the points but increased the penalty to $100,000.

On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, this is the exact question Freddie Kraft raises. He said “What the hell do they care? You are essentially charging them $50,000 to contend for the Championship. $50,000 is a drop in the bucket. Brett, what’s a per-race sponsor for Hendrick Motorsports? [It’d be north of $300,000.]”

“Here’s the financial side of it. When you move up a spot in the points, it is a massive pay increase. One spot is worth tons of money. So for a $50,000 increase in a penalty, every team in the garage would gladly pay for 25 points.”

“The problem goes back to officiating. You didn’t officiate when it happened, when it happened you said you didn’t see it. Then you reacted to it. Now it’s a complete miss for what happened in the playoffs. It completely changes who’s in the top 8. What’s gonna stop somebody from spinning somebody out under caution?” he said.

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With the playoffs so close by and not many events to make up the difference, teams would just be annoyed with such incoherent decision-making. As Kraft suggests, NASCAR needs to streamline the decision-making process to avoid such issues.

What was the consequence of the dilly-dallying for Hendrick Motorsports?

Hendrick Motorsports would be very happy that they got back Byron’s 25 points. But at the same time, his teammate would not be. 

Byron managed a 16th-place finish at the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte. This meant he was 11 points above the ‘cut’ line for the top 8. Had the decision not been reversed, he would have been left outside the top 8.

At the same time, teammate Kyle Larson suffered misfortune from Byron’s good fortunes. Larson ended up finishing 9th, which is just below the ‘cut’ line. The defending champion unfortunately will be unable to retain his 2021 title.

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Hendrick Motorsports and Byron will be hoping that they can capitalize on their good luck. Heading into the top 8 playoffs, they will be aiming to make it to the Championship 4 and bring back the Championship home.