NASCAR to Discuss Post-Race Grass Excursions with Trackhouse Racing

Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

Following Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway, NASCAR has issued a warning to Trackhouse Racing after Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisbergen were found driving through the grass on their cooldown laps.

Chastain and Van Gisbergen, who finished 24th and 25th in the second event of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, were seen post-race driving through the infield grass at random times throughout their cooldown lap.

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In the days following Sunday's event at the 1.25-mile racetrack, many within the industry have theorized that this tactic was designed to pick up additional weight before getting to post-race inspection, thus making their cars pass inspection.

Brad Moran, the Managing Director of the NASCAR Cup Series, discussed the hot topic with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Tuesday morning, as part of the weekly check-in with NASCAR's management.

"We'll be having some discussions with Trackhouse [Racing] in management, as well as their crew chiefs, and we'll be giving all the teams some information regarding that this week," said Moran. "We have rules that could put the teams in a real bad spot when we see that. So, we'll make it pretty clear to them, moving forward, starting at Bristol, what that means."

Without a single blade of grass in sight at Bristol Motor Speedway, that won't be a prevalent issue for Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race, but beyond that, with the majority of racetracks having some kind of grass coverage somewhere, it may be important for NASCAR to lay down the law on this matter.

While there weren't any shenanigans involved, last October at Charlotte Motor Speedway's ROVAL, Alex Bowman failed post-race inspection for not meeting rear weights -- which ultimately knocked him out of the NASCAR Playoffs and paved the way for Joey Logano to advance to the 'Round of 8' and eventually win the championship.

Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisbergen currently sit on opposite sides of the cutline, with Chastain 19 points above, and Van Gisbergen 15 points below heading to Bristol Motor Speedway.