NASCAR Should Take a Page From Formula 1 to Improve the State of Racing at COTA

NASCAR’s first road course at COTA was undoubtedly exciting but what the community did not like was the organization’s stringent stipulations that were according to their discretion with changes being done throughout the weekend. This left drivers and teams in a precarious position and once the race unfolded, it was a spree of penalties, getting even the best of the best in a rut. Following the race, the popular podcast crew at DBC sat down with young sensation Connor Zilisch where they dissected the COTA race, comparing NASCAR’s rendition with Formula One’s at the 3.41 technical course.

NASCAR’s penalty spree gets it compared to its global competitor Formula One

As per Freddie Kraft, a total of 47 penalties were issued by the sanctioning body just for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at the Austin track. Despite the action-packed races, NASCAR’s penalty system for the post-race was heavily criticized by fans and industry experts alike. While drivers like Shane van Gisbergen voiced the difficulties of racing on extreme track limits, NASCAR decided to push the limits for its drivers handing them penalties for cutting the course on select sections of the track.

This COTA policing act however got the organization in a bad position as racing enthusiasts critiqued NASCAR, comparing it with its global competitor and racing behemoth F1. With the DBC crew taking up the conversation, 23XI Racing spotter, Freddie Kraft said, “I think they need to get more in line. You talk about Formula One. Like Formula One, has different rules for that. You know, it shouldn’t be just cut and dry, you missed it by three inches we’re black flagging you, you know, Formula One has warnings.

He added, “They have, you know, now you can’t just, you can’t just solely rely on warnings because if you don’t have a warning all day, then you can just drive through there on the last one. So they have like if you do it really egregiously, then they just say, “All right, you have to get that spot back,” or you got a signed penalty or whatever.” 

Connor Zilisch voices his displeasure with NASCAR’s COTA ruling

Keying in with his take was Truck Series debutant, who was also not impressed with the NASCAR COTA ruling when he was asked a point-blank question by Brett Griffin, just to know about the youngster’s take on the past NASCAR race. Connor Zilisch said, “I don’t like how they just take the turtles away and leave it up to the, you know, NASCAR people to decide if you cut it or not, because, you know, there were multiple times I was behind guys. I was like, That guy just cut the sh*t out of that. Like I’m like, you’re just going to let that slide, but I got two drive-throughs in.”

Adding to his take on the COTA outing, the phenom further added, “I mean like…I didn’t feel like I was doing it that egregiously but  I just don’t like how it’s at NASCAR’s discretion. I feel like, I feel like if you put the turtles out there, it leaves us no choice but to go around them, right? You can’t drive over those things. So, I mean, F1 does it when they go there, right? So, you know, I don’t know. I think that’d be the best way to see it.” 

READ MORE: Trackhouse Racing Advises NASCAR to Take Inspiration From MotoGP to Better the COTA Experience

Hopefully, with its driver and experts expressing their concerns and displeasure publicly, we can certainly hope that NASCAR will certainly take the necessary steps and amends.