Daytona hosted the start of the 2025 NASCAR season last week, and it wasn’t without controversy. Race officials issued a caution on the final lap of Duel 2 due to an incident that occurred behind the action. When Erik Jones crossed the finish line barely ahead of Austin Cindric, everyone thought he had won. But because he was in front of the No. 43 vehicle when the yellow light came on, the Team Penske driver was given the win. Jusan Hamilton, the NASCAR Race Director, addressed the matter a few days later. Hamilton stated on the “Hauler Talk” podcast that “looking back is always 20/20, and that’s one when you look back, I would say we could do it differently.”
“We could let them cross the start/finish line, in my opinion, but that would require looking back on a Tuesday, going over all of our reviews, and having the luxury of time to consider the entire situation.” It occurred once more during the Xfinity Series race on Saturday night in Atlanta, less than a week later. With several cars crashing behind, NASCAR chose to let the front-running vehicles race to the finish line instead of issuing a caution on the last lap. Elton Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Competition for NASCAR, acknowledged on Sunday that they made a mistake. At the prerace meeting, Sawyer informed the drivers, “Our objective is to finish our races under green conditions, based on last night’s race.” That is our first priority.
During the prerace meeting, Sawyer informed the drivers. That is our first priority. Additionally, we won’t be racing through a field of rubble. Based on last night, you can anticipate that a warning will be issued. We were responsible for that. There will be a warning if something similar to what happened last night occurs. Fans, predictably, voiced their annoyance at the contradiction. “It’s absurd,” one fan commented. “Just let the leaders run for it and throw the yellow where it happens.” Another admirer remarked, “I truly don’t understand why they don’t seem prepared for these situations.” “Stay consistent and get your act together.” Another irate fan commented, “The inconsistent yellows are truly very poor management.” Two weeks. Two disputes. NASCAR didn’t want to start, but at least the fans are talking about.
