NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran discussed the confusion regarding Turn 6 enforcement at Circuit of the Americas and whether Austin Cindric will face a penalty for an early-race incident.
Last year, NASCAR penalized drivers for cutting Turn 6 on the Grand Prix layout, but this year’s race used the shorter National Course, where Turn 6 became 6A. NASCAR allowed more flexibility in how drivers navigated it.
Despite NASCAR not penalizing course cutting all weekend, some teams were uncertain about the enforcement, prompting spotters and crew chiefs to caution their drivers just in case penalties were issued.
Heavy 400-pound TecPro barriers were initially placed in the ess to deter drivers from cutting the course, but after a track walk and discussions with NASCAR, most barriers were removed except for the one at 6A.
Moran acknowledged NASCAR’s responsibility to improve communication on these decisions and assured that messaging will be clearer in the future.
He explained that extensive planning went into this, with months of preparation and input from multiple teams and drivers on how Turn 6 would be handled.
Initially, TecPro barriers were set up in Turns 3, 4, and 5, with the expectation that Turn 6 wouldn’t need strict policing, so only those earlier turns were monitored during the Xfinity Series race.
In practice, 43 laps were invalidated to establish clear expectations, and nine drivers participated in discussions about enforcement following the track walk.
Moran noted that no teams raised concerns at the hauler, leading NASCAR to believe their communication had been effective. However, they updated the driver meeting video on Friday night to clarify penalties for cutting the course.
Originally, the penalty for shortcutting was a drive-through, but NASCAR revised it to a stop-and-go at Turn 13, followed by a long lap re-entry at Turn 14, which was detailed in the updated driver video.
During Sunday’s Cup race, NASCAR overheard a team expressing uncertainty about Turn 6. Since officials had already decided not to penalize that area, they sent a message through their communication system to clarify this for all teams.
Moran concluded that NASCAR believed they had communicated well, but after realizing some teams were still unsure, they will work to eliminate any confusion in the future.
