Two major wrecks and a brand new winner in the season only begin to sum up everything that went down at Talladega. The YellaWood 500 had one of the biggest wrecks seen in the sport, with 28 cars getting involved in the wreck. The blame came down on Brad Keselowski for making contact with Austin Cindric with 5 laps to go; however, with his name cleared from the incident, Keselowski aimed at a different issue on the track.

After the race restart, Keselowski had a good position on the track as he was second to only Ricky Stenhouse Jr, the race winner. During the crucial moments of the race, on the last lap, it was Stenhouse Jr. who took the win at Talladega, but that would not be possible without some help from his allies.

Brad Keselowski is unhappy by the manufacturer’s politics

In NASCAR, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), essentially the companies making the cars, play a huge role in making race decisions. Although this issue has never been brought to life officially, many times it will be drivers from the same manufacturer who will help out others; a similar situation happened at Talladega. Brad Keselowski, the only Ford car in the top 4, was surrounded by Chevrolet and it was Kyle Larson who was right behind him.

Some video footage from the last lap of the race surfaced on Brad Keselowski’s official X page, where fans can see Larson’s in-car camera. This showed what went down towards the end of the final lap. Brad Keselowski had the lead, but it was William Byron who pushed Stenhouse Jr to the win. However, this isn’t about Stenhouse Jr., but instead Brad Keselowski and how Kyle Larson was asked to not push the Ford so a Chevrolet could win. Win on Sunday and sell on Monday, right?

From the footage of the race, we can see how Kyle Larson‘s spotter asked him to not push Keselowski and let Stenhouse Jr win the race. This raised the eyebrows of many fans who believe that teams should not be making race decisions based on their manufacturer’s orders. Compared to most of the races in the NASCAR calendar, superspeedway races work differently, as all the cars need to use restrictor plates to control the speed.

The whole point of having a plate race is to bring all the drivers to level ground by reducing the top speed of the cars, promoting closer racing, and improving safety. This makes the competition much stiffer, as drivers now have to rely on their skills to make it across the finish line. However, that did not happen at Talladega, as the Chevy drivers were told to help each other, and this made Brad Keselowski quite unhappy. It was not only Keselowski who was unhappy with the race finish as fans started to swarm the comments section to give a piece of their mind.

What did the fans have to say about Chevrolet drivers not pushing Brad Keselowski?

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Fans wanted to discuss the race and how manufacturers call some of the shots during a race. This fan was not happy with what went down with Brad Keselowski as they commented, “I want to see everyone going for it regardless of team or OEM. Plate races don’t need to be decided in a boardroom.” The fan wants to see some honest racing without any company politics getting involved. Their concern is specifically with plate races where the stakeholders of teams decide the winner of a superspeedway race.

Because this is a plate race, all the cars are topped out at a similar spec. One fan believes that this is why drivers had to push Stenhouse Jr. to victory as Brad Keselowski lost his advantage when Kyle Larson was asked to back off. Their comment read, “This is what happens when all the cars are the same and handling does not matter.” It also gave a nod to NASCAR fans’ displeasure at the way Next-Gen cars are created to ensure parity between times. In the mission to achieve this parity, fans believe that they lose out on the entertainment factor.

“Looks and sounds like race manipulation to me,” said another fan who believes that giving OEMs decision-calling power is manipulation. From this, it can be seen that the fan wanted to watch a clean race where the driver wins on his own accord; however, that did not take place as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a push while Keselowski did not. However, these alliances are not a new phenomenon, especially at superspeedways. The whole point is to bring a sense of safety in numbers. Had there been a different situation where the Fords outnumbered a Chevy, fans may have seen a different scenario altogether.

The strategy has long been employed by teams. The manufacturers are after all a big part of the team. A sense of unity ensures that in all teams get positive treatment from the manufacturer. This fan told Brad Keselowski that if Kyle Busch pushed him clear, the situation would not be due to what the OEM said; however, because he followed orders, it became more about the car brands than the race itself. Making it clear how much they do not like OEMs stepping in to call the shots, the fan commented, “If he pushes you clear, then it’s between y’all two… I wish these OEM battles would go away.”

A short and simple summary of how this fan felt was given in their comment, “Manufacturer alliances ruin superspeedway racing.” According to this fan, the fun of superspeedway racing is oftentimes ruined by manufacturers making decisions for the drivers. Because of the lack of push from Kyle Larson, Keselowski couldn’t keep up with Stenhouse Jr, as William Byron pushed the No.47 to victory.

That being said, what do you think of manufacturers calling the shots during a race? Do you think its fair on some drivers? Share your thoughts on this in the comments section below.