It’s more reasonable to say they were the first ones who got caught. To be clear, it’s highly unlikely the JGR cars were the first illegal winners since the DQ rule was revised in 2019. But that was never a good enough reason not to crack down on cheaters.Īnd particularly with the Next Gen car and NASCAR’s desire to create a more level playing field across the garage, it was important for NASCAR to take a step like this. Yes, there might still be some fans who didn’t get the news of the disqualifications (if that’s you and you’re reading this - surprise!).

NASCAR now does the majority of postrace inspections right there at the track and issues its decision within hours of the checkered flag.

Officials long believed fans should know the race winner when they left the track that day - even if NASCAR later had to issue penalties on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Fans and most drivers were halfway home, if not already there.Īll of those things were once cited as reasons for why NASCAR could not afford to DQ winners. The easy route for NASCAR would have been to quietly tell JGR: “We found this and you’d better not bring it back again.” The TV broadcast had gone off the air long ago, the victory lane photos had all been taken and the news conferences had concluded. Chase Elliott, who was named as the winner after crossing the finish line in third, said Monday he wasn’t going to celebrate the victory, didn’t feel like he earned it and didn’t care if Hamlin gave him the trophy. Certainly, what happened at Pocono isn’t pleasant for anyone and has the potential of creating negative publicity for everyone involved - from Denny Hamlin to Joe Gibbs Racing to the team’s sponsors and NASCAR itself. NASCAR had taken victories away in its lower series and disqualified Cup Series finishers outside of the top spot - but had yet to strip an actual Cup win since 1960.

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