A NASCAR executive said Tuesday that it was clear Ross Chastain committed a violation at the end of last weekend’s Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, but series officials will look at ways they can issue the penalty quicker to avoid a situation where a car that has committed an infraction is racing for the lead.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR vice president of officiating and technical inspection, made the comments on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
On the overtime restart, Chastain was on the far outside heading into Turn 1, a right-hand corner. With three cars to his right, Chastain chose to drove straight on to the escape route. He was fifth at the time and emerged on track next to Tyler Reddick, who was leading.
While Chastain gained four spots, some of that was because the field got jumbled in Turn 1. Cars running second, third and fourth entered Turn 1 side-by-side and shot up the track. Ryan Blaney, running fourth, was spun in Turn 2. His car blocked the lower lane and slowed cars on the outside.
Reddick later said he was uncertain if Chastain would be penalized or if he was racing Chastain for the win. As they dueled, Austin Cindric closed on the two. Reddick eventually got by Chastain and won the race without incident.
Asked on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio by NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan about if NASCAR could have made that call quicker, Sawyer responded: “I would answer that with a short one-word yes.
“We will start today with our debriefing of the event, the things we did well, the things we didn’t do so well, and the things we need to do better going forward.
“Track limits on those type of courses are always a challenge for us. We want to get it right. When those situations are presented to us,
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