NASCAR insider calls for change after Martinsville playoff controversy

A NASCAR insider wants changes made after the Martinsville playoff race that had controversy during the final lap. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said spotters should not be allowed to tell their drivers about where their teammates are in points standings.

“There’s got to be something that has to come out of this where some improvement gets made,” Gluck said. … “The best suggestion I’ve seen so far, Joel Edmonds on Twitter, former [Craig] Biffle and [Aric] Almirola spotter, said this might be the time when spotters are no longer allowed to tell drivers what the points position is. I thought ‘Damn, that actually makes a lot of sense.’

“Let’s say you were allowed to only tell your driver where they were in points, but you can no longer tell teammates and manufacturer people ‘Oh this guy needs one spot, this guy’s in by one.’ You heard all the radios were lit up. Joey Logano’s spotter kept telling him, ‘Okay, 12 [Ryan Blaney] is in the lead. We don’t need a caution right now.’ What if they just policed them saying, ‘Alright spotters, listen, we’re not telling guys points anymore except your own points. You need this many spots.’ None of the drivers are gonna know what the point situation is. They might be able to guess who’s winning, but it could help calm down on some of this mid-pack racing.”

Why there was controversy at the NASCAR Martinsville playoff race

Along with Logano, there was radio communication between the teams of Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon about where Chevrolet teammate William Byron is in the playoff point standings. There was also radio communication with Bubba Wallace‘s team about where Toyota teammate Christopher Bell was in the standings as he was competing with Byron for a spot in the Championship 4 race. When the race was over, Byron and Bell finished in a tie with the tiebreaker going to Bell. But NASCAR penalized Bell for his wall-riding move in the final lap, leading him to be eliminated from the playoffs and putting Byron in the championship race.

Byron will join Martinsville winner and defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race in Phoenix on Sunday. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET and air on NBC.