Trackhouse boss Justin Marks believes his 'MotoGP-inspired' idea can resolve NASCAR track limit penalties

Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks has chimed in on the unjust track-limit penalties as he feels confident in his MotoGP rulebook-based solution for resolving the issue in NASCAR.

The Focused Health 250 was hosted by the Circuit of the Americas and etched its name as the first road course track on NASCAR's schedule. Kyle Larson sealed the victory after profiting from the final lap wreck between Austin Hill and Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen.

While Hill was leading the pack during the 46-lap run, SVG was following the pursuit in P2. However, as the Richard Childress Racing driver was eyeing his third Xfinity Series win of the season, the Trackhouse Racing driver aimed for his maiden triumph. With just a few turns left for Hill to sweep the Final Stage, the New Zealander bumped into the #21 Chevrolet, sending both off the track.

The pair recovered from the crash and completed their run, where SVG secured the P2 spot, followed by Austin in P3. However, the #97 Chevy driver was slapped with a 30-second time penalty for violating the track limits, which saw his position plunge to P27.

The barrage of track penalties being imposed lately caught Trackhouse Racing co-owners attention, following which he gave an idea, inspired by the MotoGP rules, that can supposedly curb the problem.

He said (via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio on X):

"I didn't like the penalty on #9 [Chase Elliott's Chevy] car yesterday," said Justin Marks about Elliott's pass-through penalty arising because of violating the track limits. "Sometimes you're in a situation when you almost can't help it."

He added:

"One of the things we do in MotoGP that I suggested to Elton Sawyer [Vice President of competition of NASCAR] and Steve O'Donnell [Chief Operating Officer for NASCAR] is that when a bike breaks the track limit rules, every track has a corner that's like an escape route that runs along the outside of that corner and they call that a long lap penalty."

"So when you get called for a track limit violation, on the next lap you have to make a long lap. In that corner, you have to take that excess road, and the penalty is 3 or 4 seconds, and you rejoin the race."

Kyle Larson reflects on his COTA outing after benefitting from the Trackhouse Racing driver's wreck

The HMS driver is enjoying his dominant entry into the 2024 season. Having one win at the Cup Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and two top-5s and top-10s each, Kyle Larson is placed at P5 in the standings. Moreover, with his Focused Health 250 win at COTA, his Xfinity Series prospects, too, are looking strong.

The victory didn't come the Californian's way until the final lap. However, the moment Trackhouse Racing's SVG surpassed the track limits, collecting Austin Hill's #21 Chevrolet and making way for the pack to recoup, Larson, on a fresh set of rubber, dashed his #17 Chevy toward the checkered flag.

Post his superior run on the Texas land, the 31-year-old outlined his weekend, saying (via FOX on X):

"It feels really special...just wild there. I thought when we pitted honestly there would be more people to pit with us, and when I get in, I was like, 'Man if I can get back to like top 10, it's okay.' But, just worked out."