NASCAR has announced that it intends to review the radio communications from the closing laps of Sunday's race at Martinsville, which decided the final spots in the Championship 4.
While Ryan Blaney drove off with the race win to book his place alongside Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick, strange things were happening throughout the field involving Chevrolet and Toyota teams seeking to support manufacturer stablemates seeking to join them.
William Byron (Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet) was ultimately handed the final transfer spot after NASCAR penalised Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) for a final corner wall-ride.
Here's how it played out on the team radios.
Setting the 'final' stage
When the final restart came with 87 laps to go, Bell was trapped a lap down and unable to make any forward progress from 19th. As a result, he was three points behind Byron for the final transfer spot.
Up front, Kyle Larson was leading the race and in the Championship 4 - until his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Chase Elliott took the lead for himself with 25 laps to go. But it was all for naught as reigning Cup champion Blaney passed them both in the laps that followed.
None of that changed the situation for Bell and Byron. When Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin managed to pass Byron, the margin was suddenly a single point. Losing one more position would have put him level on points with Bell - who he would win a tiebreaker courtesy of his runner-up finish at Las Vegas two weeks prior.
But with 12 laps left, the bleeding suddenly stopped for Byron when fellow Chevy driver Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) pulled up to his rear bumper.
RCR and Trackhouse work together
Before the race even began, Dillon's radio openly mentioned being aware of the Hendrick playoff drivers. That's not unusual in these playoff races, but as Dillon was catching Byron in the closing laps, it was made it clear that protecting Byron was the sole priority.
"The #24 is only two points to the good right now and there’s two spots between them," crew chief Justin Alexander explained to spotter Brandon Benesch. He then told Dillon about the points situation, and Alexander quickly added: "If we pass him, he'll be out."
Dillon wanted to know who Byron was racing. He was flatly told: "He just can't give up spots."
As Ross Chastain's Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet rapidly closed, pulling alongside Dillon, the radio became more interesting. "Does he know the deal?" asked Alexander. Atop the spotter's stand, Benesch replied: “I’m trying to tell him. Justin can you tell the crew chief?”
With 12 laps to go, the same question lit up the radio again but with more urgency as Chastain pulled alongside Dillon. “Does the #1 crew chief know the deal?” asked Benesch. “Yeah, he should," replied Alexander, but he didn't sound fully sure.
Things were much quieter on Chastain's radio. Spotter Brandon McReynolds informed him of the points situation. However, there was a moment when the always-aggressive Chastain still got to the outside of Byron with seven laps to go. His spotter quickly keyed the mic: “Nice and smart with the #24 here.” Chastain didn't reply, but never pulled alongside Byron again.
Dillon and Chastain ran side-by-side for most of the final 10 laps, moving like a rolling roadblock that made it impossible for anyone else to get near Byron. Right behind, the field was stacking up with Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Carson Hocevar packed tightly together.
Wallace: "God forbid we don't help a f****** JGR car"
While Byron couldn't afford to lose a single spot, Bell was desperate to gain just one.
“God forbid if we don’t help a f****** JGR car," radioed Bubba Wallace while riding around in 18th place. Crew chief Bootie Barker instructed spotter Freddie Kraft to tell Wallace where Bell was on track. "Relay it to him," said Barker. "10-4, I will. #24 is half a straightaway behind us," answered Kraft.
They continued to give Wallace updates on Bell's whereabouts and with 10 laps to go, he was told about the points situation. With five laps left, something happened to the #23 Toyota. Entering Turn 3, Wallace went up out of the groove.
“I think I’ve got a tyre going down," said Wallace. Barker told the spotter to inform Wallace that his team-mate, Reddick, "had a fire" in an issue that put him out of the race earlier. This might have been a way to try to connect the issue to whatever was happening to Wallace's car.
With five of the 500 laps remaining, Wallace's times abruptly fell off and he ran a full second slower than on the previous tour. He gained about half-a-second of that back on the next lap before abruptly slowing again. Bell was gaining about a second per lap as Wallace kept driving up into the marbles, slowing down as his lap times fluctuated wildly.
Coming to the white flag, Wallace baulked the Byron group and there was a tense three-wide moment with Chastain and Dillon. Chastain even ran into the back of Byron. Wallace slowed down enough that Bell caught him just as the field entered the final corner on the final lap.
Bell entered Turn 3 deep and flew by Wallace, but hit the wall as he slid up the track. At that point, he proceeded to put the throttle down, riding the wall to the finish line. He didn't gain any additional spots by doing so. It also looked like a slower, similar version of Chastain's now-banned wall-ride move from two years ago.
Wallace's final lap was over three seconds off the pace and 2.3 seconds slower than his previous lap. Bell got the point he needed and was in the Championship 4 — but only for 27 minutes.
On the cool-down lap, the 23XI team asked if Wallace needed a fire extinguisher, again connecting it to the issue that put Reddick out of the race earlier. "I'm okay, I think," replied Wallace.
"Tyre looked up," observed Kraft. "Looked just like s*** the last couple laps there. Just be careful getting in here. May be on fire like the No. 45." It was not on fire.
As Bell and Byron emerged from their cars, no one celebrated. NASCAR immediately moved to review the finish, without taking into account the assists from Byron's fellow Chevys or the Toyota of Wallace.
Instead, its focus was on the wall ride. Bell was removed from the Championship 4, reinstating Byron, while officials also informed JGR that it had no right to appeal.
When NASCAR does review the comms this week, the conclusion still won't change the final four drivers. But Chastain, Dillon, and Wallace's teams could all see penalties, as happened two years ago at the Charlotte Roval race when Cole Custer slowed on the final lap to help Stewart-Haas Racing team-mate Chase Briscoe advance into the Round of 8.
In that instance, NASCAR fined Custer $100,000, suspended his crew chief, and docked the team 50 points.
