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Chevrolet sent 'message' to Shane van Gisbergen about Ryan Blaney during controversial Martinsville race

JHby: Jonathan Howard11/04/24Jondean25
Shane van Gisbergen Martinsville
Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Last night the NASCAR Playoff race at Martinsville was mired in controversy with allegations of race manipulation by Chevrolet and Toyota. For half an hour, officials looked at the finish of the race to determine the final driver in the Championship 4.

Ultimately, William Byron advanced as Christopher Bell was penalized for an accidental Hail Melon move. A maneuver that has been made illegal by NASCAR.

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However, fans were concerned with two Chevy drivers appearing to block for William Byron in the closing laps. Then there was the seemingly random loss of pace from Bubba Wallace to allow Christopher Bell to pass him.

Going back earlier in the NASCAR race, Chevrolet was doing more than what we previously believed. On-board camera footage from Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevy shows as much.

Pulled by Andrew (@Basso488) on X/Twitter, the evidence is a bit damning. At this point in the race, the sun was still up. Ryan Blaney was working on moving his way up through the field. SVG was lined up right behind him on what appears to be the final restart. Lap 414.

Over the radio, the Kaulig Racing driver was told, “Okay, don’t forget what the 12 did to you earlier, alright? … That’s a message from Chevrolet.”

To his credit, SVG laughed, said “Copy that,” and raced Blaney clean on the restart.

We had Spingate years ago. Now a decade later we have a new controversy at a deciding race on a short track. A lot of folks were rightfully focused on the 1, 3, and 23 teams. After seeing and hearing this, it appears Chevrolet had a heavy hand in Sunday’s NASCAR race.

Does NASCAR need to penalize Chevrolet?

Now, NASCAR is in a tough spot. The one thing that bailed them out more or less last night was the fact that Christopher Bell did ride the wall. Accidental or not, Bell hit the wall exiting Turn 3 and rode it through 4 and almost to the line.

The fact that Bell slid up like that on Bubba Wallace when the 23 was already slowing down to him tellsme that Toyota was not organizing this. That doesn’t absolve 23XI from consequences if it turns out Wallace sandbagged on purpose and not for a mechanical issue.

On the other hand, you have people talking on Austin Dillon’s radio about knowing “the deal.” AD and Ross Chastain are two of the most aggressive drivers in the Cup Series but the two of them couldn’t make a move on Byron down the stretch, opting instead to race two wide and slightly off the pace?

My point is, that Chevrolet appears to have been heavy-handed in this race. Does NASCAR punish Chevrolet or just the teams? How do they prevent this from happening in the future? Prevent communication on race days between manufacturers and teams?

After last night, something has to change. The playoff system, the manufacturer involvement – something. It is clear this current system is being undermined and manipulated in the biggest moments, and that is unacceptable.