Desperate time leads to desperate measures, but isn’t that the case with most of the NASCAR teams? And more times than not, such situations lead to teams and drivers bending the rules of racing. All of it starts with setting up the race cars in the garage, and this is where the magic happens. Those with the best-in-class ideas and resources have race-winning setups, while others who are playing catch-up resort to cheating.

Unfortunately, Richard Childress Racing fell in the latter category at the time when Robby Gordon was with the team. His crew, Chris Andrews, and the #31 team were trying to find a solution to stay on par with the top teams at the upcoming race at Dover. They knew that they had no chance against Evernham’s teams, the #9 and the #19, and would eventually go a lap down against them. The only way to stay up with the competition was going to require the crew chiefs at RCR to resort to dirty tactics. And that is exactly what they did with their race set up ahead of the Dover race in 2004.

Richard Childress Racing crew chiefs came up with a new idea for debris caution

The most simple yet effective way to break up momentum or catch a good break in NASCAR is a debris caution. Back in the day, drivers would throw water bottles and even foam pads from the safety bars out of their cars. And this eventually brought out a debris caution. However, NASCAR quickly caught up with these ingenious ideas of the teams that tweaked the rules.

But Chris Andrews and his folks at RCR were a step ahead as they engineered a set-up that would allow their drivers to cause a debris caution. “We did the three of us crew chiefs; we got this aluminum insulation kind of quilted stainless steel-looking stuff that you’d go put between the exhaust and the driver’s seat. So we cut pieces of it and fold over it, and everything we got with our car chiefs and safety wired up in the transmission tunnel, and we ran a piece of safety wire like up through the shifter boot.” Andrew revealed.

However, the funny part of the story was when Robby Gordon used this mechanism during the race and still wasn’t able to stay on the lead lap. “I told Robby when the leader gets a straightaway back. I’m gonna tell you, Robby, you need to suck it up till the leaders come. When I tell you that you pull this out. Race starts, we’re going, we’re awful leaders are coming, and I’m like waiting and waiting. I key to mix, and I go, Robby the leaders are coming you need to suck it up, and he goes, I sucked it up five laps ago.”

Well, this was indeed the perfect example of if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. The idea behind cheating is to gain all the advantage you can, bend the rules, and do so without getting caught. That right there was the essence and a crucial part of NASCAR racing. But with the spec cars in the modern era, the engineers and crew chiefs can only dream about pulling off such a stunt. And those who try it often get reprimanded by the race officials. A recent example is Alex Bowman’s disqualification from the playoffs after the Roval race.

A lightweight race car cost Bowman and the #24 team their playoff spot

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Until the previous generation of the race car, the Next-Gen is a different beast altogether. Unlike the good old days, all the teams are required to source parts from a NASCAR-certified vendor, and they aren’t allowed to change a lot of stuff on the car. However, Blake Harris and the team tried their luck after passing the tech at Roval but were caught in the post-race inspection.

“Unfortunately, when we were running the No. 48 through, it didn’t pass the minimum weight specs. They are allowed half of a percent of a weight break, which is about 17 pounds, give or take. That is what they’re allowed, and it was more than that.” NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran explained in a video.

There were arguments that the #48 car, after hitting the turtles and losing a piece, could’ve impacted the weight in the inspection. However, it turns out that the team fluffed their lines in trying to gain an edge on the racetrack. This was evident from HMS’s call to not appeal the decision, followed by Jeff Gordon’s statement, accepting the responsibility for a mistake that cost Bowman a spot in Round of 8.

“Our teams, in order to just make the best-performing race cars every weekend for our drivers, we know that we’ve got to stay as close to those minimums as possible. In this case, the 48 car, they just cut it too close and missed it. That’s on us.” Gordon said this on SiriusXM NASCAR.

Comparing the above story from RCR back in 2004 to Bowman’s misery in 2024, it’s clear how NASCAR racing has changed drastically. It makes you question the technological aspect of racing in the modern era, where it seems like neither teams nor drivers can influence the outcome of races.