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The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway did not see a finish as straight-forward as the fans and drivers were expecting to see. The exhibition race, which does not hand out any points to the teams or the drivers, was held at the 1.44-mile-long track in Fort Worth, Texas. The victor of the race takes home $1 million in prize money.
Kyle Busch won the first stage of the race with his No.18 Toyota Camry TRD, which was seemingly the fastest car on the track. Busch was looking to win in Stage 2 when a flat tire caused him to slow down. While others avoided the slow-moving Toyota, Ross Chastain could not and crashed into the Toyota before hitting Chase Elliott.
However, the main talking point came during the final moments of the race when Ryan Blaney seemingly took the checkered flag to win and went on to put his window net down to celebrate.
However, a last-minute caution flag meant that the race would have to restart, causing the Team Penske driver to hastily re-do his net while driving the car under caution. He ultimately went on to win the race after the final restart where he held Denny Hamlin off for the final two overtime laps.
Drivers and fans pointed out the inconsistency in NASCAR's decision-making and questioned the necessity of the late yellow flag. The governing body's senior vice president, Scott Miller, gave an official statement to track-side media after the race and said:
“The way that works in the tower is that we’re all watching around the racetrack and the race director who has the button and makes the call, makes the final say of when the yellow gets put out. We saw the car and mentioned the car against the wall, and the race director looked up and I’m not sure what he saw, but he immediately put it out. So, wish we wouldn’t have done that but we did that and we’ll own that we probably prematurely put that caution out.”
Watch the full interview below:
Catch the teams and drivers on May 29, 2022, in Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.
NASCAR SVP puts Ryan Blaney's confusion down to 'special rules' in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway
NASCAR's senior vice president Scott Miller also elaborated on why he thinks Ryan Blaney was confused about putting his window net down in the All-Star Race yesterday. The window net is a crucial safety system that keeps the drivers' arms in the car in case of an accident. Miller spoke to track-side media after the race and said:
“Obviously Ryan Blaney thought he won the race. Another by-product of the kind of special rules of the All-Star because every other race that we do besides this one, he would have won the race when the caution flag came out. So, they were celebrating.”
NASCAR goes live from Charlotte Motor Speedway next weekend for the Coca-Cola 600.
