NASCAR: Top 5 controversial moments of the 2021 season
Let’s take a look back at some of most controversial moments that took place throughout the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Just over one month since the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season ended, we’re taking a look back at some of the best and worst moments that happened in the sport this year.
Each season has its own headlines, unique stories and memorable moments. In this article, we will focus on some of the controversial moments we witnessed in this past year of racing on the Cup Series circuit.
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NOTE: These moments are not ranked and are placed simply in the order that the events happened.
Controversial moment no. 1 – Sprinkles of rain at the Daytona Road Course
Daytona Speedweeks (or…Speedweek) gave everyone something to talk about, from the last-lap run-in between Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney in the Clash to the fiery last-lap crash that ultimately gave NASCAR Cup Series veteran Michael McDowell his first win in the series on the sport’s biggest stage. But the biggest controversy in Daytona didn’t happen until after the glory of the Daytona 500 washed away.
The week after the Great American Race, teams returned to Daytona Beach to compete on the Daytona International Speedway road course. Road course ace Chase Elliott appeared to be cruising to another win on the winding course, but on lap 57, a caution for rain came out and derailed his race.
The short shower only affected one section of the track and no cars had appeared to suffer from the rain. NASCAR threw the caution flag anyway, and unsurprisingly, nobody came into the pits for rain tires. But with the field packed tightly on the restart, two more cautions, plus a number of other incidents, drastically changed the outcome of the race.
For the most part, it seemed as though fans who were in the stands, as well as many team members and personnel at the track, acknowledged that there was some form of rain, but some made it out to be worse than others.
From television, there appeared to be very little to no rain whatsoever, and with no cars seemingly affected by the weather, an outcry began from fans. Many claimed that NASCAR was using the caution as a way to create closer racing and more excitement since the cars had been strung out. It wasn’t the first time NASCAR had faced accusations like these, but they defended their ruling.