The blatant race manipulation at Martinsville led to an uproar from the NASCAR community, asking the racing organization to bring out the harshest of penalties. Well, the drivers involved in the matter are Chevrolet’s Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon. As well as Toyota driver, Bubba Wallace. NASCAR has given each driver a $100,000 fine as well as docked 50 points from their season.

In the race, drivers were instructed by their teams to manipulate the race, so NASCAR has also wrapped them up in penalties. The #1, #3, and #23 teams have also been fined $100,000, along with suspending their crew chiefs, spotters, and race executives for the final race. While race manipulation of this degree is unprecedented, shouldn’t the penalty match the same severity? Recently NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr. disagreed with the penalties drivers got as he believes it needed to be harsher.

Dale Earnhardt Jr opens up on the Martinsville penalties

In Martinsville, it was your usual high-octane drama as William Byron and Christopher Bell fought for a championship spot. In the final stages of the race, the #24 was leading by one point and a position drop would have been detrimental to Byron, as well as Chevrolet, having Byron as their last hope to make it to the championship 4. Aiding Byron, his Chevy colleagues, Chastain and Dillon caused a blockade by not letting any car pass the #24 driver. This was also revealed from the radio conversations later. On the other side, Bell needed to gain a position and his Toyota teammate, Bubba Wallace, suddenly slowed down, letting the #20 car pass.

Eventually, the Byron vs Bell battle turned out to be a Chevy vs Toyota one and NASCAR did not appreciate it. Hence, the penalties were issued! However, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr, only monetary fines for the drivers would not suffice to create a strong precedence. Recently on the Dale Jr Download episode, the veteran said, “If I was an owner sitting there with $200,000 worth of fines and I’d done something to try to help the whole group…I’d go well, Chevy, I’m in a hell of a damn predicament here, right…So I think it’s a lot of money, I think the points are the points are a lot that’s for sure. But I still stand by the idea that to really get someone’s attention, I think parking them a race is the way it goes.”

According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, suspending drivers is the way it should be! Even in the 2022 ROVAL race, when Cole Custer helped his SHR teammate Chase Briscoe to progress to the round of 3 by slowing down, there too, NASCAR stayed away from suspending the driver. While Custer got 50 points docked and a $100,000 fine, his crew chief, Mike Shiplett, was suspended indefinitely. But Custer continued to race the next weekend. It’s understandable that to NASCAR, drivers are more valuable, and missing out on a race could affect a lot of aspects, like a possible drop in viewership. Regardless, Jr. agrees that it needs to be done to set a firm example.

Also, NASCAR Vice President Elton Sawyer recently spoke about how they could make the penalties harsher in the future if this repeats. But, according to Dale Jr, it should be done now and not later. “I saw where NASCAR made a comment, Elton Sawyer said we considered penalizing or parking the drivers that may be something down the road. Dang man, I hate that because it’s kind of like your parent going next time, it’s your (expletive), next time you’re getting the belt. Maybe now’s the time to bring the belt out!” 

And Jr has strong reasons why suspending drivers would work better than monetary fines.

Dale Earnhardt Jr speaks on what a driver would feel missing out

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No one likes getting suspended or missing a race! Like what Kevin Harvick had said when he missed out on the Martinsville race in 2002 for rough driving. The veteran had said that it “Tore him up” to watch Kenny Wallace drive his car. According to Harvick, a suspension was lesson enough for him to not repeat it. Back then, he had said, “Having to miss the race in Martinsville definitely got my attention.” This is why Dale Earnhardt Jr feels a suspension is inevitable, for it to be a lesson.

“Drivers would never assume that you were going to be told man you’re not running you’re out going to get another guy in there. And why is that a deterrent? So obviously the driver’s embarrassed. They’re going to get mad initially, but then it’s going to fall into a bit of an embarrassed emotion. They’re going to be embarrassed, ashamed oh my I let my team down. I’m not going to be there for them. They’re going to have someone else. That’s my team and they’ve got to watch their car, go to the racetrack and someone else drives it,” Dale Jr. added.

And it’s not just a setback for the driver, but the entire team, including the crew, owners as well as sponsors. Naturally, a suspension doesn’t look good on the record, so the team would avoid doing anything that might put them in that situation again. Jr said, “The team, the owner, the sponsor, they go through all of that all that as well because all next week on the broadcast throughout the weekend practice qualifying and in the race broadcast is going to have to cover it. Guess who’s driving this car today…hey this is why. And that’s not a great little bit of recognition for any of that group, that is a great deterrent.”

Do you agree with Dale Earnhardt Jr or do you feel the penalty given was enough? Share your thoughts with us in the comments down below.