With talk circulating nonstop this week about NASCAR penalties, it can often be confusing why NASCAR rules the way it does at times.
That’s nothing to fret about, as the sport’s governing body has pulled just as many penalties out of left field as it has those straight off the shelf. What’s important in any penalty situation, however, is consistency. Luckily, there are plenty of resources that compile these.
It’s also worthwhile to note where all monetary penalties go to. Since 2008, the money collected from the penalties go toward the NASCAR Foundation for charitable work. Before then, all the money collected throughout a season went toward the Drivers Points Fund, which was awarded to the points champion at the end of any season.
Just as important, though, is differentiating between what type of penalties that drivers can receive: pre-, in- and post-race.
All of these penalties are somewhat self-explanatory in nature, but for education’s sake, it helps to list what drivers may be penalized for on a week-to-week basis.
Firstly, pre-race penalties are just that: penalties that are handed out for any infringement that occurs before a race begins.
These can be assessed due to drivers and teams making unapproved adjustments to the car or failing pre-race inspections, of which there are multiple rounds. The result of these penalties is typically the loss of a pit stall selection, a pass-through penalty (when a driver has to drive through pit road at a speed limit at the start of a race), being sent to the back of the field or even the loss of a crew member for the race.
Notably this NASCAR Cup Series season, Kyle Larson had to serve one of the most harsh pre-race penalties this season at Talladega Superspeedway when he lost his qualifying spot, had a crew member ejected and served a pass-through penalty.
In contrast, in-race penalties are often only impactful to the race in which they occur. They typically require dropping to the back of the field during a race or serving a pass-through. In extreme situations, NASCAR may call for a stop-and-go penalty on pit road, which is exactly what it sounds like: holding the car for a number of laps or even telling a driver to park it for the rest of the day.
One of the most memorable instances of these occurred last season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, when NASCAR told Josh Williams to park his car for the day. Williams certainly parked it, but he did so right on the start/finish line.
For this act, Williams was served a post-race penalty through which he was suspended for the next week’s race at Talladega. Post-race penalties are usually of the more serious variety, as much more deliberation on their assessments take place. These penalties range from anything like monetary fines, point deductions and driver suspensions, and typically occur after examining post-race conduct, confiscating parts or failing a post-race inspection.
For instance, this week’s big headline penalty that was handed out to Austin Dillon was a post-race penalty, and one of the biggest in recent memory. Dillon, who was supposed to be locked into the playoffs as a race winner, did not have the race win stripped but did have the playoff eligibility that comes with it taken away as a result of crashing both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for the win this past week at Richmond Raceway.
While reviews on NASCAR’s penalty system are mixed, as it’s hard to please everyone when you’re handing out fines, the system has stood for over a decade and shows few signs of changing its core procedures any time soon.
Fans and drivers alike may not always agree with the decisions NASCAR hands down, but they’ll all have to hold their breath a while longer if changes are what they’re expecting.
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.