NASCAR drivers all compete by their own code, but what happens when they clash?
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
All drivers live by a code when racing.
The only problem: All the codes are different.
That includes the code of how a driver not in the playoffs should race a driver in the playoffs — if there is any difference at all.
"We have seen in our sport that there is no code [on playoff drivers]," Denny Hamlin said Wednesday. "It just depends on how you were brought up and kind of how your racing background is and stuff like that on whether that is acceptable or not."
Hamlin experienced it all Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. He seemed particularly miffed that Chase Briscoe, who turned Hamlin on the final lap at Indianapolis earlier this year, seemed to not give Hamlin the extra inch that Hamlin felt was deserved, considering their recent past and that Briscoe isn’t a playoff driver.
But when Ryan Blaney pinched Hamlin and they banged tires, resulting in a flat for Hamlin, Hamlin seemed understanding of what he considered a mistake at a time when neither playoff driver could give an inch.
"Ryan was three-wide in the middle and just steered right and cut our tire, but after the race, I told him, ‘I get it. No big deal,’" Hamlin said. "I know it wasn’t malicious. It was a mistake, and you can ask him. I said, ‘It’s all good.’
"I understand it for that reason — that we are all fighting for it and whatnot, but he is a car that we are battling. He is trying to get the spot just as much as I am from him. It’s hard racing amongst guys going for a championship."
The Briscoe incident — which hurt only Briscoe, as he ended up not making contact with Hamlin — was more frustrating. The thinking among many playoff drivers, even beyond that they have more on the line than non-playoff drivers, is that in future years, the favor can be returned.
NASCAR is essentially a battle of give-and-take, a battle of wills at times. Playoff drivers have an attitude of more take than give and hope that those not in the playoffs will do a little more giving, with the idea that when they get in a similar position, they can do more taking.
"You expect the favors that you have be returned," Hamlin said. "It’s over with, but my frustrations are with if you take me out, and I don’t wreck you immediately the next race or the next few, then, like, you owe me one.
"It’s just one of those things that I just don’t understand the mentality of some of these guys, but ... I understand that everybody is racing for their own individual race."
Briscoe and Hamlin traded some words on Instagram, with Briscoe saying, "if only I had 10,000 races worth of experience" (a reference to Hamlin saying four years ago that he had competed in 10,000 races, likely an exaggeration) and Hamlin retorting "not sure you’ll get there."
They aren’t the only drivers frustrated and wondering how drivers should race one another. William Byron was frustrated that Tyler Reddick accidentally punted him late in the elimination race at the Charlotte road course, considering that Reddick wasn't in the playoffs and Byron was.
Reddick apologized for the contact but had contact with Byron again last week at Texas. It was a little bit different, as this time they had both been eliminated from the playoffs, but it was still frustrating.
"It’s definitely even in that sense [we’re not in the playoffs], but I don’t like getting run into," Byron said afterward. "That was the second time he’s run into me. ... I don’t think it’s anything personal, but I sure would like him to stop running into me."
Byron ended up finishing second to his teammate Kyle Larson, who is in the playoffs and with the win advanced to be one of the four drivers competing for the title Nov. 7 at Phoenix.
The quandary for Byron could come if he is running second to teammate Chase Elliott, who is in a more precarious points position and could need a win to advance.
Byron said Wednesday that you have to be aware of the other driver’s points position, but when competing for the win, a driver typically will be gaining points whether finishing first or second.
"Knowing before the race that [Larson] has a bunch of bonus points and then knowing throughout the race that he got a bunch of stage points, I wasn’t super worried about his point situation," Byron said. "But I didn’t want to obviously get in a wreck with him.
"So we just raced hard and clean and just raced smart. But I want to win, and my team wants to win, so I’m not going to do anything to sacrifice that. I just have to be aware of the situation."
Briscoe indicated that he was aware of the situation and didn’t think he went over the line.
"I race everybody the same," he told SiriusXM. "It doesn’t matter who you are, I am going to race you as hard as I possibly can but as clean as I possibly can. Those playoff guys, there’s a difference between racing and getting into them and, honestly, messing their day up and just racing them hard.
"This past Sunday, I didn’t do anything I didn’t feel like to Denny especially that was going to put him in a bad spot. If anything, it was going to put me in a bad spot."
Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
Playoff meter
What to watch for
— Watch the draft. Remember in the last Kansas race on the green-white-checkered finish, Blaney attempted to block Larson, who got both of them out of shape and ruined their chances at the win.
— Larson led 132 of the 267 laps in May in the race won by Kyle Busch. Brad Keselowski, who started on the pole, led 72 laps.
— Drivers with at least three top-5s in the past five Kansas races: Keselowski, Kevin Harvick (including runner-up finishes in the past two), Elliott and Kyle Busch.
— Hamlin has two victories in the past four Kansas events; Joey Logano won the race a year ago.
Thinking out loud
Having Texas and Kansas in the third round isn’t a bad thing, but next year will be better, as Kansas moves to the opening round and Texas moves to the second round. Replacing Texas and Kansas in the third round will be Las Vegas and Homestead, while Martinsville remains the elimination race.
There is plenty to like about this move in 2022:
— Kansas (six weeks earlier) and Las Vegas (five weeks later) both should have more comfortable weather for their events.
— Homestead is known as a driver’s track because there are natural racing grooves with the progressive banking.
— Vegas and Homestead, while both 1.5-mile tracks, race more differently than each other than the somewhat similar 1.5-mile tracks of Texas and Kansas.
For those who might be frustrated about another 1.5-mile track this weekend, don’t worry — change is coming.
Next Up: Next Gen
NASCAR teams are working on getting cars ready for the Charlotte oval test in four weeks and awaiting word from NASCAR on whether any of the modifications made to attempt to lessen the heat in the cockpit during the test earlier this month will become permanent fixes.
The question for many teams is how nimble the vendors will be and, if there does need to be an immediate fix, will NASCAR have the teams do it?
NASCAR Senior Vice President John Probst said NASCAR’s preference is that vendors handle modifications.
"If we got in a situation where it has to happen immediately, we could revert back to that [of the teams doing it]," he said. "It would not be preferred, but it could."
One thing that will help is that teams won’t have more than seven cars in their fleet at any time, as that is the likely maximum number of active chassis NASCAR will allow them to have.
"With this new car, these same cars they are running here [on the road course] with the change of some left front geometry, they’ll be able to run these exact same cars here when we come back for the oval," Probst said.
Social spotlight
They said it
"When the time comes, I’m sure we’ll work on it. I’m not very concerned about it." — William Byron, whose current deal runs through 2022, on contract extension talks with Hendrick Motorsports
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
