Kyle Larson’s win at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday (Oct. 23) set up a playoff twist, but it also underscored an on-track incident that happened weeks ago. One that didn’t involve Larson.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs saw the first shakeup come after the Autotrader Echo Park 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. That’s where Larson’s teammate, William Byron, was penalized by NASCAR for a retaliatory move on Denny Hamlin under caution. The penalty included a 25-point deduction for Byron. The points portion was, however, rescinded by the three-member Motorsports Appeals Board panel that heard Byron’s case.
Those points changed the championship picture entirely. Had the penalty been upheld, Byron and not Larson would have been eliminated from the playoffs after the Round of 12. Larson’s win at Homestead would have assured him a chance at a second straight title, something that has not been accomplished since 2010 and has never been achieved under the current championship system.
The reinstated points gave Byron the edge but does set up an interesting scenario. Because the No. 12 did not qualify for the car owner’s title, Larson is still in that hunt and a win at Phoenix Raceway would secure two different champions in 2022, one owner and a different driver.
But while the point deduction and the following reinstatement is a different twist, there have been plenty of penalties that affected the playoffs and eventual outcome.
Penalties during the playoffs, and subsequent questions about their impact began in 2004, as soon as the playoffs began in NASCAR.
After winning the playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a little enthusiastic in his post-race interview and let slip a word that neither NASCAR nor the television broadcast felt was appropriate, and Earnhardt was fined 25 points for that one little word. His appeal was upheld (my, how times change), and as it turned out, there was no effect on Earnhardt’s points finish, he would have been fifth in the final tally with or without the 25 points.
The infraction that came closest to changing it all was a penalty incurred by eventual champion Kurt Busch for an unapproved fuel cell spacer. Had that drawn any point penalty of eight or more points, Jimmie Johnson would have won the title instead.
But even then, penalties played a role in the playoff picture. Here’s a year-by-year breakdown of infractions and penalties that did affect the playoffs in some way. Others…
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