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Takeaways from Phoenix: Kurt Busch was a victim of NASCAR inconsistency

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer

Kurt Busch’s race was dramatically affected with a penalty in the second stage.

Busch was held a lap by NASCAR for passing the pace car while heading to pit road as the leader. The Phoenix layout makes it conducive for leaders to pass the pace car while heading to pit road and as Busch hit the gas pedal to go towards the entrance of pit road he inadvertently passed the pace car.

[Kyle Busch wins at Phoenix]

He’s not the first car to pass the pace car accidentally at Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. were penalized in this same race two years ago for the same infraction. But NASCAR really needs to work on its consistency from spring to fall.

Johnson and Truex were penalized after NASCAR didn’t call the same penalty in the spring race at Phoenix that season. And guess what? Busch fell victim to the same inconsistency on Sunday. He beat the pace car to the pit entry line during the spring race at Phoenix in 2018 but didn’t get penalized.

Busch fought his way back to the front but his race ended after contact with Denny Hamlin. He finished 32nd.

It’s totally understandable why NASCAR enforces its rules during the playoffs. You’re not supposed to pass the pace car while entering pit road. But shouldn’t the penalties be enforced in the playoffs like they are in the regular season? Yeah, Busch’s infraction in the spring was close. But it was still an infraction. A little consistency could go a long way for NASCAR.

Speeding penalty dooms Chase Elliott

Had Chase Elliott not sped on pit road he probably would have avoided the late-race wreck involving Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch. Elliott was leading when a caution came out on lap 230 of the 312-lap race. But he spun on pit road on his next pit stop.

“Yeah, don’t speed before that and you don’t get caught back there in the back,” Elliott said after the race. “It was completely my fault and when you make mistakes like that, you get put behind and that’s when you get wrecked.”

Elliott finished 23rd.

NASCAR needs to have some standards

NASCAR’s licensing process has always been curious. It needs some scrutiny.

Obaika Racing has been a low-budget Xfinity Series team that hasn’t run near the front of the field. It bought some assets from the bankrupt BK Racing and decided to go Cup Series racing. It made its debut at Texas a week ago and driver David Starr caused a caution with a spin late in the race.

Sunday at Phoenix, Obaika’s driver was Tanner Berryhill. He spun entering pit road to cause a caution on lap 230 and then caused a caution with less than 20 laps to go.

Berryhill was making his first Cup Series start and his first NASCAR start in four years. Given that NASCAR artificially raises the stakes in the playoffs with its format the series needs to take a hard look at preventing teams from making their debuts during the playoffs.

It also needs to be more stringent on its licenses. Nothing against Berryhill — who wouldn’t want to drive in the Cup Series? — but if NASCAR really has the best drivers in the world it needs to have some standards. A driver who hasn’t driven in a Cup race or in a NASCAR race in years shouldn’t be making a Cup Series start as the playoffs are getting really serious.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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