NASCAR reverses decision, removes 400 lb barriers at COTA

Once everyone got a good look at the new 400 lb barriers NASCAR installed in the essess at COTA it didn’t look like such a good idea. So, officials have reversed their decision on the new barriers and removed them.

Credit to NASCAR for listening to the drivers at COTA. While enforcing track limits is a necessity, officials will just have to do their job. Drivers were worried about getting pushed wide in the essess and into the barriers by no fault of their own.

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic noted the change this morning ahead of Cup Series practice. NASCAR will also have a stop and go penalty that will include a penalty lane that drivers must drive through as well.

This will be much more forgiving than the usual stop-and-go penalty NASCAR had at COTA.

At first they were going to put 400-pound barriers in the esses as a deterrent for course-cutting but then the drivers yesterday on their track walk were like uh…this could like destroy our cars for getting shoved off course or being slightly off line. So let's not. https://t.co/UUBBo8rRze

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 1, 2025

By removing the barriers, NASCAR will have to make these penalty decisions themselves at COTA. Last season there was a bit of controversy with how those tack limit penalties were being called. Hopefully, this year the officiating is improved.

There is a lot of hype around the Cup Series race this weekend. Connor Zilisch is making his debut and he’s bringing Red Bull along with him for their return to the sport.

Already we have seen the new NASCAR COTA configuration make issues for drivers.

Bubba Wallace spins in NASCAR practice at COTA

Last season, Bubba Wallace had an uncharacteristically strong performance at COTA. This year, he’s already having issues. This NASCAR track in Texas has a lot of changes. A lot of the track is repaved, except for the new shortcut section that cuts the typical F1 course down by a mile in length.

A lot of drivers have been hit with course-cutting penalties. Except in practice there is no penalty. Cutting the course will earn drivers a disqualified lap in qualifying and a stop-and-go penalty with an alternate lane that drivers must use during the race.

Bubba Wallace was running laps in practice behind his new teammate Riley Herbst. Coming off a curb going into one of the higher speed areas of the track, the 23 car snapped around. Wallace was able to get his car turned back around and kept on moving.

Good news this was during practice. No major problem if you spin out. Those tires are not going to be used for anything else anyway. The big takeaway is that Bubba Wallace didn’t wreck his car. If he had been running too close to Riley Herbst the two teammates could have collided.