With four more races to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series champion-determining finale at Phoenix, the sanctioning body is on high alert for potential race manipulation, especially after last year’s Martinsville controversy.
Last weekend at ROVAL, the community saw an incident that yet again caught the attention of the race officials: Denny Hamlin’s late pass on Ross Chastain at the Charlotte ROVAL. However, the veteran’s admission that he might have acted differently had he known Joey Logano’s points situation exacerbated the situation further, sparking a firestorm of debate among drivers, NASCAR officials, and fans.
Now, ahead of the Round of 8 opener in Vegas, Hamlin’s No. 20 teammate Christopher Bell has spoken out, pointing fingers directly at NASCAR, revealing how the current playoff structure can push teams/drivers to cross ethical lines.
Does NASCAR’s Playoff Structure Encourage Controversial Tactics? Christopher Bell Thinks So
Although incidents involving playoff ringers at the ROVAL last week and Martinsville last year sparked controversy, the sanctioning body remains determined to enforce fairness in the championship run.
This follows last year’s penultimate race at Martinsville, where a coordinated Chevrolet effort blocked any attempt to pass William Byron in the closing laps, ultimately knocking Bell out of contention. Furthermore, the race also saw Bubba Wallace penalized for radio communications, suggesting attempts to influence the outcome and help the No. 20 advance over Byron.
Eventually, once the contest ended, Bell took the brunt of it, getting penalized while the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 23 received record penalties ($600,000)! The past race at ROVAL and Hamlin’s subsequent comments were seemingly another similar chapter of collusion in the governing body’s eyes.
However, when asked about his take during the pre-race presser at Vegas, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing ally, Bell, flipped the script. In a rather blunt critique, the 30-year-old put NASCAR’s playoff format under the microscope. While he acknowledged that the veteran’s comments hinted at manipulation, Bell emphasized that it’s the playoff system itself that blurs the line between ethical and unethical behavior.
“I mean, it is. You know, I, but it’s a product of the format that we’re, you know, racing under right now,” he stated. “So, it’s been happening a lot longer than I think most people realize, and people are just, you know, finally starting to talk about it. Uh, but yeah, I think everything that happens, uh, is a product of the, you know, the format that we’re racing under.”
Championing the voices of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other veterans, Bell then expressed optimism while backing the traditional full-season points format – “I’m hopeful that there is compromise on what we have now. You know, I’ve been very vocal about taking as many we can get. I think that 36 races are full points for the entire year, and that is the best way to go.”
Although officials didn’t find any issues at the ROVAL, Mike Forde, NASCAR’s Managing Director of racing communications, made the priorities clear: fans deserve better racing, and any acts of gamesmanship or manufacturer favoritism will be met with serious consequences.
