Does Cole Custer’s Penalty Fit The Crime?

NASCAR’s biggest controversy in 2022 has just occurred.

If you missed it, Cole Custer and his crew chief Mike Shiplett have been both fined $100,000, docked 50 driver and owner points and Shiplett has been suspended indefinitely.

This is in response to radio communication between Custer and Shiplett during last Sunday’s (Oct. 9) NASCAR Cup Series race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

The communication between the two indicated they were intentionally slowing down to allow teammate Chase Briscoe, who was on the bubble to advance in the playoffs, to gain extra positions on the track. Briscoe made the next round by a mere two points.

NASCAR gets heavily criticized for its inconsistency, so its response has sparked some debate. Clayton Caldwell and Michael Nebbia debate whether or not NASCAR got the penalty right.

It Should’ve Been Harsher

Cole Custer’s penalty – 50 driver and owner points, $100,000 fine and crew chief suspended indefinitely – that’s a start.

But it doesn’t fit the crime that was committed late in the race Sunday at the Charlotte ROVAL.

What Custer did has clear and distinct parallels to Spingate, the controversy that torpedoed Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond Raceway in 2013. You have your crew chief giving clear and distinct orders to alter the outcome of the race, to give one of their team’s drivers enough time and opportunity to get by someone they were battling for a spot in the playoffs.

You have a coded message from someone on the team to trigger the controversy and a driver holding up traffic to help out their teammate.

Look, I’m all for helping a teammate however you can, but what MWR did in 2013 with Spingate and what Custer did Sunday at the ROVAL are just the lowest of the low. NASCAR did more with Spingate than they did with Custer. NASCAR fined MWR’s drivers $100,000 each, put the crew chiefs on probation for the balance of the calendar year and docked each team 50 driver and owner points.

This was what brought in the “100% rule,” a rule that was clearly violated Sunday.

The penalty that would have fit the severity of the crime should’ve been a loss of 100 driver and owner points, $250,000 fine, probation of the car owners for the balance of the calendar year and suspension of the crew chief and spotter indefinitely, along with suspension of the driver for the rest of the season.

Custer’s blatant disregard of the 100% rule was more egregious than Spingate and should have…