NASCAR’s Strong Warning Stops Joe Gibbs & Co. From ‘Cheating’ COTA Investigation With HMS Tactics

Plenty of conspiracy theories were flying around after William Byron’s win at the season-opening Daytona 500. And, NASCAR is leaving nothing to chance this time. The Hendrick Motorsports driver performed a burnout at Daytona International Speedway after winning ‘The Great American Race’ for the second year in a row, and his No. 24 Chevy hit the wall during the celebrations. Immediately, some fans concluded that the incident was a tactic to escape technical inspection, accusing the North Carolina native of ‘cheating’.

Eager to not leave any room for controversy, the sanctioning body gave clear instructions to the No. 20’s Toyota team to not repeat Byron’s antics at Circuit of the Americas. NASCAR authorities don’t want mud thrown at the sport for actions of the drivers. But, could issuing the warning mean there was an element of truth in the cheating allegations?

NASCAR instructs Bell not to follow Byron’s footsteps

Christopher Bell was ecstatic. Why should he not be? The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won his second consecutive Cup Series race, becoming the first driver since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to secure two wins in the opening three fixtures. While the speedway win in Atlanta came as somewhat of a surprise, the No. 20 team would have circled the race at COTA during the off-season as a winnable track. However, that doesn’t make it any less of an achievement. Passing Kyle Busch cleanly towards the end, particularly after the controversy surrounding the two drivers at COTA last year, made it a landmark achievement.

Considering the circumstances, it would not be a surprise if Christopher Bell wanted to do a burnout at the road course after securing his triumph. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to, with Bob Pockrass tweeting, “Bell is told not to burnout up against the wall.” Shedding more light on the matter, the FOX Sports journalist said in a follow-up message, “Let me clarify … it sounds like the spotter was relaying a message from NASCAR not to do the burnout up against the wall.”

After the Daytona 500, conspiracy theorists claimed that Byron’s burnout and subsequent wall hit was an attempt to mask illegal modifications made to his car. However, the Hendrick Motorsports driver brushed off such allegations, going on to explain that hitting the outside wall at the ‘World Center of Racing’ was unintentional, going on to say that he’s just “clumsy”. However, with NASCAR clearly stating that Christopher Bell couldn’t repeat the No. 24 Chevy’s actions, it’s prompting fans to speculate about cheating allegations again.

Joe Gibbs Racing has been in the news for the wrong reasons recently. Chase Briscoe secured a pole ahead of the season-opener and finished fourth at the Daytona 500. However, after the race, his No. 19 Toyota was found to have a modified spoiler base, resulting in an L2 level penalty, which took away 100 driver/owner points, 10 playoff points, a $100,000 fine, and a four-race suspension for crew chief James Small. Could the team be a victim of their reputation?

NASCAR’s decision may be rooted in Kligerman’s disqualification

The celebrations were wild at Daytona International Speedway. After all, Parker Kligerman was the first driver to cross the checkered flag at the Fresh From Florida 250. However, things soon took a turn for the worse when his No. 75 Henderson Motorsports truck failed the post-race inspection, resulting in a disqualification and elevating runner-up Corey Heim to the number 1 spot. Even though the team appealed NASCAR’s verdict, the sanctioning body stood by its decision, citing that the vehicle sat too low in the rear on both sides.

However, if Parker Kligerman had performed a burnout and hit the wall in the process after the race win, he would have gotten the benefit of the doubt in the post-race inspection concerning his truck’s height. It’s precisely the situation NASCAR is hoping to avoid by discouraging drivers from performing burnouts against the wall, as the subsequent damage could affect the post-race inspection, affecting the integrity of the sport.

By avoiding the burnout, Christopher Bell left no doubt that his race win was earned by merit instead of foul play being involved in his back-to-back triumphs. After Joe Gibbs Racing’s recent controversy involving Chase Briscoe, following NASCAR’s instructions by the book is the best course of action for the team to avoid another controversy going forward. Even if that means curbing their drivers’ excitement and enthusiasm during race wins.