Trackhouse Racing under scrutiny after Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain’s grass stunt at Gateway: “It certainly caught our radar”  

NASCAR has flagged Trackhouse Racing’s actions following last weekend’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway as it plans a conversation with the team, particularly focusing on what happened when Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain steered their cars through grass during their cooldown laps. The team might be in trouble for these actions, as the managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series gave his comments on the incident.

The incident occurred immediately after the race, during the cooldown, when both Chastain and Van Gisbergen deliberately drove off the paved access road and onto the grass before heading toward the pits. This caught the eye of fellow driver Alex Bowman, who radioed in to inform his team about it.

Managing Director of the NASCAR Cup Series, Brad Moran, recently shared his comments on the incident and insisted that he would have a discussion with the Trackhouse Racing team.

"We’ll be having some discussions with Trackhouse in management as well as their crew chiefs, and we’ll be giving all the teams some information regarding that this week. It certainly caught our radar. We have rules that could put the teams in a really bad spot when we see that. So, we’ll make it pretty clear to them, moving forward, starting at Bristol, what that means,” Moran said via Sirius XM radio.

While the move hasn’t yet prompted penalties, it raises fresh questions about NASCAR’s post-race inspection protocols, as it could be a calculated move to gain an advantage, particularly regarding extra weight, such as rubber, debris or small stones that could help the car pass post-race scales. This is a practice that is commonly seen in Formula One.

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Why did the Trackhouse Racing drivers drive on the grass after the Enjoy Illinois 300 race?

In an unusual twist after the Enjoy Illinois 300 at the World Wide Technology Raceway on September 7, Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen didn’t take the most obvious route back to pit road; instead, they deliberately drove across the grass. What seemed like juvenile mischief actually spoke to the high stakes of NASCAR’s playoff scrutiny.

It came to light when Alex Bowman picked up on the curious move and radioed in:

"Hey, the Trackhouse cars are driving through the grass. That’s kind of cool,” Bowman said via his car radio.

Corey LaJoie recently expressed why the Trackhouse Racing drivers drive through the grass while replying to a video of the incident.

"They post all the playoff cars. Trying to pick up a couple pounds of grass, rocks, rubber to let your car chief feel a little better when you roll across the scale," LaJoie wrote via X.

A similar type of instruction was also given to Denny Hamlin by his crew chief at the end of the race. This isn’t unprecedented; in 2024, Alex Bowman himself was disqualified from the playoffs at the Charlotte ROVAL for an underweight car.