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NASCAR recently explained why it penalized Bubba Wallace for cutting the front stretch chicane but not William Byron for allegedly doing the same. Mike Forde, NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, said all four wheels of Wallace’s car were within the restricted area, while two wheels of Byron’s car were within limits.
Bubba Wallace is a 23XI driver piloting the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE, while William Byron drives the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. Both drivers were under fire for allegedly cutting the chicane in turn 16 during the Bank of America Roval 400 race from Charlotte.
In an X post by Forde, he said the No. 24 car’s front left and rear left wheels were touching the red/white strips, thus it wasn’t a penalty.
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“Two, the 24's front and rear lefts are touching the red/white strips. Very close, no doubt. But not a penalty,” Forde stated.
He added:
“All four have to be in the 'blue' for it to be a penalty.”
On a different angle captured by X user Zach, Mike Forde pointed out that the No. 23 car’s four wheels were within the blue-painted area, hence the penalty for the 23XI driver.
The penalty implemented for drivers exceeding track limits is the stop-and-go rule. This means drivers must come to a complete stop at a designated area.
Drivers who go straight in either the front or back straight chicane must perform a stop-and-go before exiting the latter chicane or on the apron before the start/finish lap.
If drivers fail to take the penalty, they may be assessed with a pass through penalty. But if there isn’t enough time for a pass through penalty, drivers would be given a 30-second time penalty instead.
Despite the penalty that cost him position in the early laps of stage one, Bubba Wallace finished within the top 10 in P9. Meanwhile, William Byron finished 3rd behind race winner Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell at the reconfigured Charlotte road course layout.
Fans criticized NASCAR for penalizing Bubba Wallace but not William Byron
Fans didn’t hold back their sentiments regarding the penalty involving Bubba Wallace and William Byron. Some believe NASCAR penalized the No. 23 car and not the No. 24 car because of the league’s ongoing legal battle with 23XI, the team Wallace is driving for.
“One team sued NASCAR, the other didnt,” one fan said.
“Which one has a pending lawsuit,” another fan wrote.
Fans also blasted the stock car racing league for allegedly being biased toward Hendrick Motorsports, thus not handing Byron a penalty.
“Hendrick bias is real because Byron did the same thing but no penalty,” one fan suggested.
“Hendrick bias? Playoff bias? Same action, different result,” another fan said.
However, as mentioned by Mike Forde, the penalty for Bubba Wallace and the non-call for William Byron were justified given the ruling on the chicanes.
