Another week is in the books on the 2025 NASCAR season, and with it, another driver was disqualified from his finishing position in one of the three national series.
Daniel Dye was the unfortunate victim at Nashville Superspeedway in the Xfinity Series.
Dye became the ninth driver of 2025 to lose all but one of his points in a race due to his car failing post-race inspection. This is already the most in NASCAR history in a single season, and it's still early June.
It has become what seems like a weekly occurrence: at least one driver is sent to the back of the field after the checkered flag, and at this point, it's fair to wonder whether or not this is healthy for the sport.
NASCAR should consider reversing course on its disqualification rule
NASCAR's modern disqualification procedure was first introduced in 2019, following a season in which multiple race winners failed post-race inspection.
Prior to that, the rule in that scenario was that the driver whose team was found guilty lost all playoff benefits from the win, but was still officially credited with the victory. Taking the step to outright strip them of the win was seen as a message that the sanctioning body was going to crack down on cheating for once and for all.
For several years, it seemed to work as intended. Disqualifications were rare, and usually did not impact the race winner. Even still to this day, only one Cup Series driver, Denny Hamlin at Pocono Raceway in 2022, has been disqualified out of a win due to the rule.
This season, though, the mass uptick in disqualifications has already included two winners: Parker Kligerman in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway and Jesse Love in the Xfinity Series at Rockingham Speedway.
Many of the other infractions have been from drivers who battled for the win and finished up front, such as Ryan Preece being stripped of his runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway.
This was the concern when NASCAR began disqualifying drivers: the thought of someone winning or contending for a win, giving an interview about it after the race, and then being retroactively told that none of what they experienced, and none of what every fan at home watched with their own eyes, actually counted.
When it happens every once in a blue moon, it's tolerable. But when it's someone every week, it's a problem.
NASCAR needs to understand that no matter what they do, teams are going to hunt for grey areas in the rulebook. If we're being honest, every team in the garage is probably cheating at least a little bit.
There are ways to penalize them, such as with owner points, monetary fines, and suspensions to team members, which would suffice as enough, and if it continues to be a problem, then perhaps the sanctioning body should consider allowing more leeway for what can be done to the cars.
But stripping drivers of their finishing positions has run its course. It was worth a try, but it has now created more problems than it has solved.