“Given a warning”: NASCAR cautions two teams for discussing points situation at Charlotte ROVAL

NASCAR officials have confirmed that they'd warned two Xfinity Series teams for discussing the points situation at Charlotte Roval. While they didn't name the teams, they confirmed that both had already secured their playoff spots. According to the series officials, the warnings were made to avoid 'questionable' actions.

In a recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed that Connor Zilisch's No.88 team was warned by race officials for relaying the points situation. The subject comes under scrutiny after last year’s Martinsville controversy, where multiple teams were fined $100,000 and docked owner points for race manipulation.

On the latest episode of the NASCAR Hauler podcast, Amanda Ellis, senior director of racing communications, addressed the matter.

"They were just given a warning that if the points didn’t have to do with them, their specific car and vehicle, then we didn’t want to see them talking about points," she said (via NBCsports.com)

Mike Forde, NASCAR managing director of communications, chimed in and said,

“We wanted to get ahead of it with the teams in question just to say, ‘Hey, if this is the end of the race and you’re still doing this, it’s not going to be good for anybody. Because if you talk about points and then have some actions that are questionable … you’re going to be in hot water.”

On the same weekend, the Cup Series race saw a final-lap showdown between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano for the final transfer spot. Denny Hamlin was caught unaware by the battle and was taken out by Chastain on the final corner, resulting in a mid-pack finish for the JGR driver.

Hamlin later confessed that having more information about Chastain's intentions would've helped him deal with the situation differently.

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Denny Hamlin reveals reason behind JGR's radio silence during NASCAR playoff race at Charlotte

In a recent episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin addressed his final lap shootout with Ross Chastain at Charlotte Roval. He revealed why he wasn't informed by JGR about the playoff fight between Ross Chastain and Joey Logano.

"I more would have liked to have known that I was in a vulnerable position those last couple corners," he said. [1:02:30 onwards]

They felt very hyper sensitive to what happened last year. And at that point I said, 'Just let me know how desperate the person is that I'm racing.' Now I know how to attack them," he added.

Notably, Ross Chastain was fined during the controversial Martinsville race last year. He was penalised for aiding a fellow Chevrolet driver in advancing through NASCAR's playoffs.

Kevin Harvick addressed the situation on his podcast Happy Hour, where he outlined the reasons why Hamlin wouldn't have passed Chastain had he known about the points situation.