There’s always a buzz in the air when NASCAR visits the Circuit of the Americas. Known for its elevation changes and sharp corners, COTA always produces drama on track, and this time, too, it did not disappoint. The NASCAR Cup Series race at COTA last weekend was a race that is going to be talked about for a very long time. 

Whether it will be for Kyle Busch almost winning and ending his winless streak, or the amazing display of close and clean road course racing shown by him and Christopher Bell, as Bell went on to win his second consecutive victory of the season. However, the main story was inconsistent officiating from NASCAR, which had teams and drivers riled up. Kyle Busch summarized the situation with, “They ain’t got a clue.”

During the race, NASCAR made several inconsistent officiating calls regarding the track limits, which left everyone watching and even in the race scratching their heads in confusion. Kyle Larson was penalized for cutting turn 3, while the Kiwi driver, Shane van Gisbergen, got away with cutting turn 6 during the race. Busch, who was trailing SVG, radioed and said, “I’ve just been around a few guys that aren’t paying attention to the candy stripes in Turn 6.” 

This has led to questions being asked. Who is to blame for this muck-up regarding the track limits and its rules? It is the drivers and teams, for not following the rules? Or is the officiating body, for confusion in the rules? 

NASCAR’s track limit chaos

Mike Forde, NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, admitted that NASCAR is to blame. The governing body was unable to communicate the rules regarding the track limits at the COTA road course to the teams and drivers. “We assumed that everything was going to be fine…But it became pretty clear, pretty quickly while listening to radio transmissions, that maybe not, maybe we weren’t clear on this one. And that is on us,” Forde admitted on the Hauler Talk podcast. NASCAR officials failed to communicate with the teams about which corners were being officiated for track limits and which were not. 

The confusion stemmed from NASCAR not policing Turn 6 in either the Truck Series race or the Xfinity race. A move they thought would inform the drivers that the same style of officiating would be followed in the Cup Series. However, with no formal communication of the same, NASCAR was forced to clarify this change with all the drivers in the middle of the race.

“So what we did was… We did it [sent a message] with the entire garage as Hey! Reminder, or if this is breaking news, this is what’s happening: we are only officiating [turns] 3, 4, and 5… So once that was made clear… All the teams were made aware, and I think it became a pretty non-story the rest of the way.” Forde said, highlighting how they handled the issue of confusion among the teams regarding the track limits.

Kyle Busch also blasted NASCAR on their indecisiveness, saying, “I heard they were going to police turns 4, 5, and 6. Then it turned into 3,4,5, and yesterday it was only 4 and 5,” highlighting the mass confusion caused across the Cup Series grid. This is another example of why crystal clear communication is necessary in the world of racing. Forde himself acknowledged, “Clearly, we weren’t crystal clear in our communication. However, that is something that we do plan to clean up in the future.”

However, while Forde highlights the importance of communication and making plans about the future, if we look into the past, just the recent past, this is not the first time NASCAR has come under fire for a lack of communication.

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NASCAR: A theme of recurring mistakes

Remember the Truck Series race at Daytona, when Parker Kliegerman won but was later disqualified because of a low rear? It turns out that this also happened because of a communication problem between NASCAR officials and the teams. Kligerman and Henderson Motorsports appealed the decision but were met with no response. Later, Forde admitted to NASCAR’s error.

“Previously, what we did was verbalize to the team, ‘Here’s what you are allowed to do.’ The procedure is now going to be written out and handed to the team. So, we’re out of the verbal business. It’s all going to be in writing—just tightening up that area,” Forde admitted. Notably, this is because Kligerman’s crew chief, Chris Carrier, was speaking to the media while his truck was being inspected, resulting in a lack of clear communication between the crew chief and NASCAR.

This admission points out a repeating theme that shows NASCAR’s struggles with transparency and clear communication. The incident at Daytona, leading to Parker Kligerman’s disqualification, and the track limit confusions at COTA could have been easily avoided if there was a proper communication channel involved between NASCAR and the teams. We hope these are just two isolated incidents and nothing more sinister. However, the implications for Kligerman are far heavier than their COTA transgression, as the driver lost out on what would have been a monumental win for a small team.