Here we are again. Another playoff race, another story to distract you from just that….the playoffs. Wonder why NASCAR isn’t gaining any momentum this Fall? It’s the fact that we’re in the most important portion of the season and we’re not talking about it.

We’re talking penalties…weekly.

We’re talking safety…weekly.

We’re talking about the Next Gen and fires, tires and crashes…weekly.

We’re talking about 2023…weekly.

Can we just have a quiet week and talk about the playoffs? We’ve wasted 7 weeks now. How many more are we going to sit back and waste further?

Another Tuesday penalty day came and went with another massive storyline heading into the Round of 8 opener this week in Las Vegas. It’s a penalty NASCAR had to make because if they didn’t, then it would open pandora’s box to further teammates manipulating the outcomes to future races.

However, because of the way these teams, drivers and fan base is, the box is already open. Cole Custer and his 41-team cheated. Plain and simple. It happened. They weren’t asked by the 14 team to do so, but they thought they were helping their teammate in a position of potential need.

Instead of taking the fine and penalty and walking away, others pointed out other areas of NASCAR’s flawed no calls and said “what about?”

That’s a massive problem to have. It shows the lack of trust and authority in NASCAR. That’s this day and age though.

Yes, Chase Elliott slowed last year at Bristol. Yes, one could say that it was helping Kyle Larson. But we know that it’s different than Custer’s move because Elliott was pissed that Harvick for a move on that so he was going to do everything possible to ensure Harvick doesn’t win as a result.

Manipulation?

Depends on how you look at it but it was more in retaliation than to help a playoff driver. We can pin point any part of the past history and try to compare it to this Custer situation but why are we doing so?

NASCAR is trying here. They have to. Instead, they’re getting crapped on for it. What more do you want them to do? If they sat back and didn’t do anything, you’d all bitch too so what angle are they supposed to play.

Which is why this is going to be talked about and discussed more leading up to the Vegas race than the actual race itself.

Then you have the penalty aspect. William Byron should have never been penalized for his Texas move. Well, should have never been penalized 48 hours later. In the race, absolutely. That was a massive moment that should have warranted a stiff penalty. It was baffling NASCAR missed the spin.

But it’s just that, they missed it. You don’t see refs or umpires days after a game changing a call. However, the fact that NASCAR did make the call for a penalty, you have to stand by that call. Instead, an appeal process overturned the points penalty and added a $50k fine on top of the already $50k they already had.

Granted, this wasn’t NASCAR’s fault here. They weren’t the ones who determined the outcome of the appeal. An independent council was. However, NASCAR was blamed for going back on the penalty.

People questioned on if Rick Hendrick’s check cashed for this to happen. They were bringing up the same thing with this Custer penalty.

Neither were NASCAR’s fault.

The Next Gen is their fault but they’re taking the proper steps to rectify it. People are still complaining. They’re complaining about the TV revenue piece of the pie.

Mix it all up, NASCAR is getting beat up on all angles here with over half of the problems aren’t their doing. I’ve seen this script before and it never ends well.

Wonder why casual fans aren’t tuning into the playoff races? This is why. They don’t know a race is coming up. If they hear anything on the NASCAR angle it’s more drama.

This isn’t the type of drama that sells…

What’s it going to be next week because you can almost be assured it’s not going to be anything about the on track product. That’s a shame.