NASCAR’s decision to reconfigure the road course at Charlotte Roval has been mired by confusion and controversies. While the drivers did manage to get the hard-hitting turtles removed from the chicane from the corners, track limits seem to be the latest topic of debate.

It is hard to know on what grounds NASCAR polices the violation of the track limits. They had a rather sketchy plan to implement the rules at COTA, and something similar of sorts is happening at Roval. Bubba Wallace from 23XI Racing was reprimanded by the race control for cutting the corner of the chicane at the front stretch.

Wallace realized he had made a mistake and apologized to his team on the radio. “I have no #@$#@@# idea where to run.” NASCAR did communicate before the racecar with all four wheels off the racing areas would be deemed out of bounds and penalized. So the call made by NASCAR was indeed justified, but they seem to pick and choose whom to penalize.

William Byron, driving the #24 Chevy just two spots behind the #23, also cut the corner in a similar manner. But he was let off the hook by the race control, and this led to a massive backlash by the fans online on social media. They were in disbelief that despite the video evidence, Byron was handed a free pass while Wallace was penalized.

Fans question NASCAR’s double standard in officiating process at Roval

NASCAR, for some reason, has been mired in controversy for the past few weeks. The DVP debacle from Kansas continued at Talladega, and Parker Kilgerman was robbed of his first Xfinity win with yet another controversial drop of the yellow just as he took the white flag. And it looks like the officials have been consistently inconsistent in delivering a normal race. “So Bubba got a penalty but not Byron? LOL just gets funnier every passing minute, lol.”

A few tech-savvy fans were able to get screenshots of both cars #23 and #24 cutting the corner on the front stretch chicane. It was clear and obvious that Byron also ran a similar line as Bubba and therefore warranted a penalty. This fan even tagged NASCAR and asked them how they were able to miss these details and officiate the race partially. “Hey @NASCAR Byron did it to.”

This isn’t the first time NASCAR missed out on wrongdoing by an HMS driver. Remember, Chase Elliott was let off the hook by NASCAR in Chicago for bumping into Daniel Suarez during the cool-down lap? Coincidentally, Bubba Wallace pulling off a similar stunt on Alex Bowman saw him penalized with a fine of $50,000. Calling out NASCAR’s clear-cut bias favoring HMS drivers, another user added. “NASCAR officials completely missed Byron?”

One fan even pressed Bob Pockrass to share his honest opinion on the controversial call. To which Bob replied, “I believe that they don’t have technology to officiate this area by inches, and they aren’t going to spend time blowing up an image to see. The 23 was clear. The 24 was iffy probably at first glance. Just like a pitch at corner of the plate sometimes is a ball, sometimes strike.”

NASCAR officials seem to be protective of the playoff drivers. At Talladega, they chose to tow both Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe to their pit stalls, while others were left stranded and deemed out of the race. Byron is still in the hunt for the championship, while Bubba Wallace isn’t. So was Byron handed special treatment while Wallace was reprimanded? It sure looked like it for this race fan. “Where’s Byron’s penalty? He did the same exact thing.”

It’s high time NASCAR gets a hold of their officiating process. In this instance, this call didn’t have a direct impact on the outcome of the race and the playoff picture. But something similar like this in the upcoming traces could prove detrimental to the team’s and driver’s championship hopes.