This just in: NASCAR is rigged, according to Jethro down at the Piggly Wiggly!
Well, let’s see, does Jethro have any sources? Is he close to any insiders in the garage?
No, but he saw a bunch of posts on Facebook saying NASCAR is rigged and is only letting Tyler Reddick win so many races because it was part of the settlement of the lawsuit with the owners of XXIII11 Motorsports, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Danny Hamilton. And Facebook is never wrong about anything, ever. Even the crappy AI posts you see on there that say Carson Hocevar Kvapil is replacing Austin Cindric are 100% accurate.
Tyler Reddick Overcomes Adversity to Win at Darlington
Do you see how ridiculous that all sounds? NASCAR races are obviously not rigged, because if they were, NASCAR would be doing a pretty crummy job of it. Also, it would be incredibly difficult to script these races. So for it to be true that the races are being rigged, it would mean that the folks at NASCAR are playing 4D chess while being painfully obvious about doing so.
For context, ever since Reddick won the Daytona 500, there have been a number of trolls, as well as longtime fans, claiming that NASCAR is letting him use a faster car or somehow manipulating the races for his benefit. The belief is that it was part of the settlement when NASCAR had to give in to several demands from 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports at the end of the antitrust lawsuit in December. Those outrageous claims have only intensified as Reddick has now won four of the opening six NASCAR Cup Series races, with 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin winning one of the others.
OK, let’s entertain this crazy idea. Even if Reddick was given a superior car and the races were manipulated to fall his way, how on earth could NASCAR still script it for him to win at both Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway?
The last lap of the Daytona 500 was complete chaos, and it ended up being the only lap Reddick led that entire day. He clearly didn’t have some superior car that could drive straight to the front whenever he wanted, and how could you script it for him to make it through all of those wrecks? At EchoPark, he led 53 laps, so his car was a little better … until he got the right front fender completely knocked off. He won that race because Carson Hocevar wrecked Christopher Bell on a restart and then messed up Bubba Wallace‘s run by forcing three-wide.
The Underdog House: Heartbreak for Carson Hocevar Strikes Again In Atlanta
That’s where the conspiracy theorists jump in, saying Hocevar did all that on purpose. Why would a driver who has never won at the Cup level do all that just to help another rival team and manufacturer win? He was going for his own first Cup win, and it just happened to hand it to Reddick on a silver platter.
Now, at Circuit of the Americas and Darlington Raceway, Reddick very much had the best car, I’ll give you that. He’s also ultra-talented at both those tracks, and Toyotas in general have looked much faster than Chevrolet and Ford to start the season. That happens in NASCAR. There are runs where certain OEMs dominate, then they crash back down to earth a few races later.
Do you want to know why Reddick’s car was so much faster in his two most recent wins? Crew chief Billy Scott and the team hit on something. It’s the same reason Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had their dominant runs a few decades ago. Their crew chiefs explored the gray area in the rulebook and found something that made the cars faster. A super-fast car plus a talented driver equals four wins in the first six races.
But OK, let’s keep entertaining the rigged theories. Why are Reddick and Hamlin the only ones to have benefited? And I loosely say Hamlin has benefited. He’s finished outside the top 10 in half the races thus far.
What about the other 23XI cars? Reddick’s 23XI teammate Wallace is off to the best start of his career, but why not let him win one of the first six races? He doesn’t even have a top five yet. His other teammate, Riley Herbst, had a top 10 at Daytona, but he’s finished outside the top 15 in every other race so far. Seeing as he’s 27th in points, it sure would help save Herbst’s season if NASCAR would let him have one of those wins it gifted to Reddick.
And what about FRM? Owner Bob Jenkins was just as much a part of this lawsuit as 23XI, yet his team hasn’t been given any wins so far this year. FRM’s best driver has been Zane Smith, who has two top-10 finishes but sits only 19th in points. The other two cars are 29th and 30th. When 23XI’s and FRM’s lawyers were discussing the rigging races part of the settlement, was Jenkins just like, “Nah, I’m good not winning any races or getting in The Chase”?
The whole argument that these races have been rigged is utterly ridiculous. If NASCAR were in the business of rigging races, why did Dale Earnhardt Jr. have such a long winless drought, and why didn’t he ever win a championship? Surely Chase Elliott would’ve won a lot more than just three times in the past four years. Kyle Larson, who is nearly as popular as Elliott, is coming up on a year since his last win. NASCAR couldn’t rig a race to end that? And Kyle Busch got all his wins when he was the most hated driver, but now that all the fans love him, he’s not allowed to win anymore?
Another point about this lawsuit settlement that has some fans believing races are being rigged is, even if NASCAR agreed to do that, why would it then go along with it? Let’s say in those settlement talks, NASCAR said it would allow the No. 45 to have what would usually be illegal advantages in races. OK, so then the team brings that car to the track, and NASCAR could fail it in tech. What’s 23XI going to do?
It can’t speak out or file another lawsuit because NASCAR didn’t hold up its end of the bargain, because then it would tip its hand to fans and other teams that 23XI was getting an advantage. If 23XI did speak out, it would tank the entire league, 23XI included. The folks at NASCAR would all land on their feet, but would all the specialists employed by race teams? There is nothing that would incentivize NASCAR to come through on an agreement like that.
Now, before I get accused of being a NASCAR homer, let’s set something straight. There are instances where NASCAR has stepped in and manipulated results, such as stripping Lee Petty of his points in 1950, penalizing Mark Martin in 1990 and adding Gordon to The Chase in 2013. Heck, you can throw in all the phantom debris cautions that cost race winners over the years, including Carl Edwards getting hosed on the 2016 Cup championship (although those were more fun flags than trying to help or hurt another driver). That being said, Reddick winning four of the first six races was not rigged.
I’m a huge conspiracy theorist myself. You name the conspiracy, and for a large chunk of it, I’m either on board or could at least entertain the idea. I even believe that the first 55 minutes of big NFL games are rigged to keep them close. But I don’t believe these four wins by Reddick were.
Instead of listening to Jethro at the Piggly Wiggly or Facebook, let’s stop with those theories and instead focus on the legendary run that is happening right before our eyes.
100% parts of the races are rigged, meaning NASCAR makes decisions based on the team and or driver. Ever seen a piece of tape or small parts of the body fall off and cause a caution? Yes you have , hundreds of times. In the last 50 years of NASCAR only one car has been parked for it, one. A young driver is too good, what are you going to do NASCAR? Answer, immediate rewriting of the rules to ban the driver, never happened before, hasn’t happened since. Ricky Rudd win stolen at Sears Point. Dale Jr. allowed to be pushed around the track to win the race when out of fuel and could not maintain pace car speed, 100% against the rules, yet it happened. And the only time this has been allowed, the only time. Biggest issue, Matt Kenseth. NASCAR hated Matt so much that when he won the championship NASCAR changed the rules to the ridiculous playoff format, even making the statement that no northerner would ever win another championship. How’d that work out?
Obviously 23XI has found an advantage (legal or not).
It is possible that NASCAR does not want to be seen as vengeful after the law suit. Maybe they are a little gun shy when inspecting the 23IX cars and the crew chiefs are taking advantage of it.
“I even believe that the first 55 minutes of big NFL games are rigged to keep them close.”
Hoping that’s a joke. Roughly as plausible as NASCAR being rigged, and for many of the same reasons outlined in the very same article. The NFL has everything to lose, and very little to gain from rigging games. Would be a great way to kill the golden goose.
I do think NASCAR has thrown cautions in the past based upon wanting to add more “excitement”. They finally got what they wanted with scheduled stage cautions to bunch the field for the final 1/3 of the race, but of course, be careful what you wish for.
The stage cautions have destroyed most strategy, and made the brunt of laps largely irrelevant. This has folks like me not watching some races at all (cookie cutter tracks), and tuning in only for stage three of some other races. Problem is, TV coverage likes the scheduled cautions, so it’s a bit of a Pandora’s Box to attempt to close.
talk about stereotyping…jethro at the piggly wiggly!
Are NASCAR races rigged? Tough question, because historically they have been known to make calls that significantly tilt the table toward an outcome they favor. I’ve mentioned this clip before, go watch the Dale Jr interview with Jimmy Spencer where he talks about the (I think it was Daytona 500) win NASCAR took from him. Or rather, kept him from winning, probably a better way to put it.
Is that still the case with current leadership? Who knows. NASCAR has such a bad track record (pardon the pun) in these areas, so who can blame fans for questioning their integrity now?
I’m not saying that the races are rigged, but last week’s was pretty suspicious when Reddick got a heavier battery put in his car and it took off. Weight balance changed? Handled better? Interesting, to say the least.
Oh Mikey, you have a lot to learn youngster. nascar has manipulated race outcomes for decades.