NASCAR sends warning not to follow Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen example after post-race Gateway move

NASCAR has issued a warning to its drivers after what happened with Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen at the Gateway race on Sunday. On the Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR spokesperson Mike Forde talked about Chastain and van Gisbergen turning their cars into the grass entering the access road in Turn 3 after taking the checkered flag.

“We did see what the 88 (van Gisbergen) and 1 (Chastain) were doing … and we did not care for it. Not one bit,” Forde said on the podcast. Forde added, “We didn’t think what Trackhouse did went to the level (of a penalty). I think we’re going to give them a little bit of a warning.” Forde then said he wanted to make sure that other teams are  “aware that we are going to be looking at this.”

Per Dustin Long of NBC Sports, Section 6.4.2.1.B of the NASCAR Cup Rule Book states: “All vehicles are considered under impound from the moment they receive the checkered flag or the Race is declared complete due to adverse conditions. Vehicles must not be altered or adjusted in any manner during the cool-down lap or on pit road prior to reporting to the inspection area(s).” On Tuesday, NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that officials planned to talk to Trackhouse Racing about the incident.

Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen had tough finishes at Gateway

“We’ll be having some discussions with Trackhouse management, as well as our crew chiefs. And we’ll be giving all the teams some information regarding that this week,” Moran said. “But, yeah, I know it certainly caught our radar, and we have rules that could put them, put the teams in a real bad spot when we see that. So, we’ll make it pretty clear to them moving forward, starting at Bristol, what that means.”

Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen are two of the 16 playoff drivers and finished 24th and 25th, respectively, at the Gateway race. Both drivers need to perform well in the next race, as Chastain is 19 points above the playoff cut line and van Gisbergen is 15 points under.

Chastain clinched a playoff spot after winning the Coca-Cola 600 in May. Van Gisbergen clinched a spot after winning the Mexico City race in June. He then went on to win three more road-course races.