NASCAR was under fire earlier this season for making erratic decisions regarding last-lap collisions. Fans were understandably irritated by NASCAR’s back and forth on caution flag rulings in the Cup and Xfinity Series races at Daytona and Atlanta over the opening two weekends of the season. Following the early-season outcry, NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer announced a strategy for last-lap cautions, stating, “There’s a balance between entertainment, competition, and the safety element in an effort to give our fans a green-flag finish that they pay for.” “In a scenario like the one we had in Atlanta, the wreck happened somewhere between the sixth and seventh running positions.
As a result, many cars are still in their wake. You’re encouraging the competitors to drive through there if we don’t issue the warning. However, it seems that when it comes to cautions, we’re still far from being consistent. The latest driver to criticize NASCAR for their erratic caution flag choices is Brad Keselowski. “When I receive questionable penalties or don’t receive any yellows, it doesn’t bother me,” the sixth-place driver posted on X. “It aggravates me greatly when it isn’t the same for other people, which has happened far too frequently in recent years.” The tweet is in response to an event that occurred at Darlington Raceway last weekend where a warning was not called when Keselowski had a loose wheel in the middle of the track.
It wasn’t until several laps after the car had already circled the track and entered pit road that the yellow flag was finally raised. The driver and co-owner of RFK Racing has had a difficult 2025 season; at Darlington, he finished in 33rd place. This year, he has failed to place in the top 10 or win a race.
