“Deleted Laps is Stupid” – Veteran Gives His Thoughts on Watkins Glen Reprofiling As He Takes A Dig At Formula 1

Let’s kick this one off with some trivia, shall we? What’s the one thing that bothers both drivers and fans the most about the rules that dictate how penalties are handed out? For F1 fans, here’s a little hint, the FIA recently had to address drivers taking advantage of a certain turn hidden from the stewards in Austria. If you haven’t guessed it already, it’s the infamous track limit violation penalty of having your entire lap time deleted! Turns out, there is now a NASCAR connection to it as well.

And when this very incident plagued Lando Norris during the Qatar GP qualifying, causing his time to be deleted, Xfinity driver Parker Kligerman was the first to comment, “The fact that this is an “error” – Once again, track limits prove to be the stupidest addition to motorsport in its history.” And now, the co-host of the Money Lap Podcast once again chimed in to call out F1 as NASCAR introduces a much-needed change to Watkins Glen to curb track limit violations “naturally”.

Xfinity drivers dissect NASCAR’s track limits implemented at Watkins Glen

NASCAR recently announced that the infamous turn one at Watkins Glen, which had been notorious for its wide line, would now face major changes as the officials were adding rumble strips to the turn. The positioning would be such that it would reduce the wide line drivers were taking to maximize exit speed, making the possibility of overtakes much more likely early in the lap.

Speaking on the incident, Kligerman shared with his co-host Landon Cassill, “Now, from what I understand, some drivers had an issue with us going out there regarding how it re-profiled the corner. That sort of thing, I’m fine with, because this is an attempt to basically make a natural barrier that you don’t want to go over.” Instead of choosing to go the route of other sports, NASCAR had opted to make track changes that would indirectly lead to the desired track limit creation. But as for any penalties?

Kilgerman further stated, “Will we be saying there are track limits? Will you have a line that you will cross over like Formula 1 that you will then be dinged five seconds or your lap deleted? No, that will not be happening. So this is not track limits. It is a natural attempt at requiring cars to stay within the area that they want. We’ll see if it works.” While the Xfinity driver had not seen any particulars himself, he was all ears to hear out NASCAR’s plan to implement a natural barrier.

However, once again, Formula 1 took collateral damage as Kilgerman stated, “I don’t ever wanna hear about deleted laps for going over the line.” Meanwhile, Landon Cassill added in agreement, “Yeah, deleted laps is stupid. Track limits is stupid.”

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While it’s safe to say that the change brought to Watkins Glen for the upcoming season has come after great insight from drivers against the wide line it creates, the NASCAR community couldn’t decide if they agreed with the decision completely.

The Reddit community is split down the middle on the rumble strips

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When the news broke of NASCAR’s change to turn one at Watkins Glen, the Reddit community was instantly split both ways. While some fans wanted more as this user shared, “Add it after the carousel too. Maybe we’ll see a little more passing at this track if it’s actually possible to overdrive the corner exits.” Others were quick to mimic Kligerman and stated, “If an F1 race director watched a NASCAR race at the Glen I think they would probably have a stroke.”

Others were skeptical of the entire ordeal. One Reddit user shared, “Not sure that this is 100% the correct solution, but something absolutely needed to be done there.” And some downright lost confidence in the change after hearing what the intent was, “If they are anything like the rumble strips the rest of the track uses, I can’t really see it doing all that much.”

Many fans also felt that other parts of the track needed an overhaul as well to facilitate better overtaking. But at the end of the day, the faith in track limit enforcement was rather low. Another Redditor concluded, “Good. Nothing has made the road courses worse than not having the skill of outbraking someone going into a tight corner not matter because of just driving a million miles off course.”

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Despite the community being divided over the decision, do you think NASCAR has made the right call by not introducing F1-like penalties?