Racing rules were created to provide a level playing field to all parties involved so that underdogs (small teams) will have a shot at the title just as anyone else.
When the institution/ organization that regulates the event starts to favoring one side things can go pretty bad quickly. This is the same exact situation that often takes place within NASCAR at all levels as big names Drivers/Teams of the sport gets no penalty for something a small team or driver would have been penalized for.
The most recent incident is where NASCAR penalized and rescinded it for Chase Briscoe in COTA for cutting corners, following comments from team owner.
Here's what happened. What do you think? https://t.co/PFfgmZuU80 pic.twitter.com/YjqZ75baXX
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 27, 2022
Tony Stewart on Live pointed out that the JR Motorsports drivers getting away without penalty while at the same time where Jeb Burton is penalize are proof of NASCAR inconsistent decisions towards big teams.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. confessed on his podcast that some of it frustrated him, specially the track limits where NASCAR officials must rule on cars cutting corners or going too far inside a curb in what is often viewed as favoring call to some.
“What’s frustrating is you’ve got a guy that’s a fan of X driver and his driver gets a black flag and then that fan can show you four other instances, maybe even in the same lap, where all these other drivers did the same thing, and maybe in the same picture. It’s so frustrating,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.
“You watch them come through Turn 1 and go way wide off the corner, completely off of the racing surface, into the runoff, and then drive a half-mile later and get black flagged for being a foot too far to the right or the left of a curb. It’s just frustrating. I hate sitting there watching a race wondering when the driver I’m pulling for might get popped for something silly like that,” Earnhardt Jr. added.
“We definitely don’t want drivers cutting portions of the race track, but I think through the esses and so forth, it’s a bit frustrating because you would see certain drivers get penalized. Jeb Burton had a great run at the end of the Xfinity race. Gets docked for cutting a corner. And there were certain instances of drivers, even JR Motorsports drivers being in the same situation, that didn’t get the same penalty. That’s got to be frustrating if you’re a Jeb Burton fan or obviously if you’re Jeb Burton,” Dale Jr. said.
Spartanburg native Jeremy Clements absolutely agreed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for laps in the final stage of the Xfinity race at COTA, he battled hard with Burton in the top 5 and was running directly behind him when NASCAR officials decided to flagged Burton for shortcutting the course.
“You go all the way there, you get in the car, you work all weekend, you race hard all day, you’re sitting there with a top-5 finish, and you’re watching other people do the same thing you’re doing and you get called on it,” Dale Jr. added.