With everything on the line, desperate times were going to call for desperate measures. However, some NASCAR Cup teams elected to blur the lines of legality to get what they wanted. Speaking of the Martinsville race, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick had already qualified for the Championship 4, so the pressure was off. However, six competitors were vying for two spots, and Kevin Harvick reacted to the questionable tactics employed.

Ryan Blaney led the race comfortably, securing his spot, but the real drama centered on the last Championship 4 position, contested between William Byron and Christopher Bell. In the end, Byron clinched the spot after Bell’s unintentional “Wall Ride” led to disqualification.

The twist? Bell only needed to pass Bubba Wallace, who many felt gave up the spot too easily. Meanwhile, on the opposite end, Byron appeared protected as Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon held off, raising questions of coordinated blocking to aid their Chevrolet teammate.

While stunts like these can be considered manipulative. And, Dillon and Chastain would not have hesitated to move themselves up the order. Meanwhile, Wallace would have tried to put up a better fight against Christopher Bell. In Formula One, team orders are usually frowned upon by many fans. This is because someone they think is deserving of a higher position has to give it up to a teammate for the championship. However, what happened in NASCAR took it to the next level, as it transcended team orders, straight to manufacturer’s orders.

Reacting to this, Kevin Harvick on the November 4 episode of the Happy Hour podcast said, “I had to make notes this week, because there was so much that happened. You’ve got the #24 car, the #24 car of William Byron, they get in by the skin of their teeth. There were a lot of things that happened at the end of the race. With the politics of the manufacturers and everything that was happening. #24 didn’t do anything wrong, right? Ran his race, didn’t have anything to do with it.

“Whether you want to say he benefitted from anything or not, that don’t matter. He didn’t do anything. The thing I can tell you about the #24 is, they have not been as dominant as they were at the beginning of the year. They haven’t led laps, or won races like they did at the beginning of the year. That’s what worries me about him. What’s that speed going to be for the #24 car.”

The bottom line is that Kevin Harvick insisted that William Byron himself was innocent in all this. If anything, the blame should lie with Hendrick Motorsports and the other Chevrolet teams for the manipulation. The same could also apply to Joe Gibbs Racing and the other Toyota teams for pulling the same stunt.

Has NASCAR handed out punishments already?

The last time this happened was in 2013 when Team Penske was found guilty of striking a deal with Front Row Motorsports. Owing to that, Joey Logano won his way into the Chase for the Championship that year. By the end of it, both teams were put on probation, while Jeff Gordon, who cruelly missed out, was reinstated as the 13th driver. Crucially, Logano did not lose his spot, but Gordon was added to the mix.

So the question is, were there similar punishments?

After the post-race radio revealed coordination between Chevrolet teams to protect William Byron’s Championship 4 spot, NASCAR responded with $100,000 fines, 50-point deductions, and suspensions for crew chiefs, spotters, and competition directors of the #1, #3, and #23 teams, penalizing both manufacturers for race manipulation.

Those suspended for the Phoenix race include key figures from each team.

1. For Ross Chastain’s #1 team: crew chief Phil Surgen, competition executive Tony Lunders, and spotter Brandon McReynolds.
2. For Austin Dillon’s #3 team: crew chief Justin Alexander, competition executive Keith Rodden, and spotter Brandon Benesch.
3. For Bubba Wallace’s #23 team: crew chief Bootie Barker, competition executive Dave Rogers, and spotter Freddie Kraft.

These suspensions were issued under NASCAR’s behavioral rules for Member Conduct.

Normally, spot-fixing in cricket or match-fixing in football or cricket carries harsh punishments. Those two are usually done in order to satisfy illegal betting. However, fixing the result in order to try and fight for a championship, is a whole new can of worms.