NASCAR Handing Out Penalties Like Party Favors as Atlanta Pit Road Confusion Persists Despite Practice

The Atlanta Motor Speedway underwent significant changes to its pit road configuration, leading to confusion and challenges for drivers. Owing to these modifications, NASCAR drivers were made to practice racing on the pit road before the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series began. However, things did not turn out well for many of them during the race on February 25, which led to a lot of them receiving penalties during the race.

Drivers such as Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, BJ McLeod, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Josh Berry are some of the drivers who were hit by penalties today. Here’s why these drivers faced penalties.

Some got it for speeding, while for others it was ‘gloves’

As the race progressed at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans and officials of the sport kept posting updates on social media. In a post by Frontstretch, the media house updated the status of McLeod, Berry, and Kyle Busch’s penalty. The post read, “PENALTY: 78 of BJ McLeod, speeding. Kyle Busch, also speeding. Add Berry to the list of cars speeding #NASCAR“.

Next, sportsnaut journalist Matt Weaver wrote, in a different tweet, the names of the drivers along with the reason for the penalties. “Penalties: Stenhouse speeding, Jones uncontrolled tire, Busch speeding, Wallace speeding, Berry speeding,” he listed.

NASCAR gave out penalties to these drivers for violations of various rules. While the reason for McLeod, Stenhouse Jr, Busch, Wallace, and Berry’s penalty was common, Erik Jones had an uncontrolled tire. To add another penalty, it was Joey Logano, who was held for an unapproved pair of gloves. Along with him was NASCAR’s favorite driver, Chase Elliott, who made unapproved adjustments to his car.

Furthermore, Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s car was the only one to fail inspection twice during the pre-race inspections at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As a result, the team lost a crew member, an engineer was ejected for the duration of the weekend. His team lost the pit selection due to this. However, the penalty for Jones was classified as an L1-level violation, resulting in the loss of 60 driver and owner points. As a result, Jones dropped from 26th to 30th in the regular-season championship standings.

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Kyle Busch and the No. 8 team fielded by Richard Childress Racing failed on their second attempt through the inspection line. This prompted the loss of a crew member and a loss in pit selection. And lastly, Josh Berry, who is driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, was penalized for unapproved adjustments. This resulted in Berry having to drop to the rear of the field at the start of the race.

What decides the penalty?

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In addition to the changes in pit configuration at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR modified its penalty rules. This was done to aim at addressing safety concerns while avoiding overly subjective judgments. This change came into force in 2019. Previously, NASCAR used the standard of an “arm’s length” from a crew member to determine if a tire was uncontrolled. If a tire was more than an arm’s length away from a crew member, it was considered uncontrolled. This rule was subjective and led to complaints from competitors.

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With the new rule coming into effect, NASCAR no longer relies on the “arm’s length” criterion. Tires are now considered uncontrolled if they create a safety issue (e.g., rolling into the path of other cars or spectators) or impede another competitor’s pit stop.

The penalty for an uncontrolled tire varies based on the race conditions. Under green flag conditions, the penalty is a pass-through (the driver must enter the pit road and drive through without stopping). Under cautionary conditions, the penalty starts at the tail end of the field. The NASCAR Cup Series 2024 thus saw numerous penalties handed over to its star racers at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.