NASCAR Did Right Thing On SHR Appeal — Keep It Up

For an appeal hearing amid one of the more contentious NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in recent memory, there sure wasn’t too much discourse about Cole Custer and Stewart-Haas Racing losing their appeal to reverse their Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL penalties over affecting the race outcome, was there?

Probably because it was the cut-and-dry right thing to do.

Custer’s teammate Chase Briscoe made the playoffs’ Round of 8 due in large part to Custer’s final lap at the ROVAL earlier this month that saw him drop in the finishing order, allowing Briscoe to make up the necessary spots to knock Kyle Larson out of the final transfer position. NASCAR saw it as a violation of its rules against artificially changing the results of a race and a driver’s commitment to race at 100% of their ability at all times, slapping Custer with a $100,000 fine and a deduction of 50 championship points, while the team itself lost 50 points in the owner’s standings. Crew chief Mike Shiplett? An additional $100,000 fine and an indefinite suspension.

There were people in SHR’s corner, sure, but public opinion on social media and even here in Frontstretch‘s comments section was largely in NASCAR’s favor. Hell, some thought the punishment didn’t go far enough.

Not going to argue that point; what’s done is done. It could have been worse, but it sends a message that NASCAR will not tolerate even the appearance of outright manipulation, especially in its premier series.

Except … it doesn’t, because NASCAR hasn’t always been consistent on this front.

It certainly was on Spingate. Michael Waltrip Racing got its just desserts, people are still pointing at it nearly a decade later when talking about basically anything postseason-related — I mean, it’s got its own name.

But remember when Chase Elliott held up Kevin Harvick last year at Bristol Motor Speedway with the express purpose of, as he put it on the radio, helping out Larson? Sure, it was retaliation against Harvick ending Elliott’s own bid for the win, but it nonetheless resulted in Larson scoring the win when he might not have otherwise.

Or how about 2020, when Erik Jones didn’t pass Denny Hamlin at Martinsville Speedway while the latter was trying to earn a Championship 4 berth? “Don’t pass him, Jones,” came the direct quote on the team radio. He sure didn’t.

No penalty on either.

And look, you can make the argument that the 2021 Bristol incident didn’t affect nearly as much…