One of the most controversial officiating decisions on Sunday evening in Nashville was NASCAR allowing Kyle Busch to retain his position despite getting caught up in a late-race incident. NASCAR Cup Series Director Brad Moran explained the call, claiming, “We deemed him not involved in that incident.” Not everyone loved the decision.
As we can see in the incident below. Busch sees Chastain spin in front of him, and the No. 8 car jams on the brakes to avoid. Busch ends up brushing the outside wall, trying to avoid the No. 1 car, and Busch stays up against the wall until Chastain drifts downwards. Busch then goes along his merry way.
On one hand, Busch could not do much else differently in that scenario. He did what he could to avoid the crash, which meant slowing down for Chastain. While some argued that that doesn’t qualify for “Maintaining reasonable speed” as is required to keep a spot, Moran says that Busch did what was appropriate to avoid the crash.
Our rule clearly states that you must meet reasonable speed. Reasonable speed is for what track conditions are at the time. We don’t want to enocurage drivers to stay on the gas and just bang their way through. What [Busch] did, was he avoided the incident. We deemed him ‘Not involved’ in that incident. He didn’t stop. Had he stopped, he probably would have ended up towards the back of the field. He was scored in the fourth place position when that caution came out, and he didn’t get into the No. 1 or the No. 5 and he made very slight contact with the wall, so we would deem that as not involved in that incident.
Brad Moran
This type of call is not unprecedented in NASCAR. In August of 2012 at Pocono, the top four cars all slid up into each other on a late-race restart. Brad Keselowski lined up on the second row, and, despite falling back after cars wrecked in front of him, NASCAR deemed that he was trying to avoid the wreck, allowing him to keep his spot despite making contact with Greg Biffle. The rain came soon after, and Keselowski ended up fourth, while the other three cars involved finished outside of the top 10.
However, a few pointed out an inconsistency on social media. Couch Racer noted that Kyle Busch is listed on the official NASCAR Race report as one of the cars involved in the incident.
YouTuber JettMDK pointed out that Busch was on the Damage Vehicle Policy (DVP). Yet, NASCAR claimed that Busch was not in the crash.
Caleb was another fan who was not very happy with NASCAR’s move.
Obviously, it looks weird to claim Busch was “not involved” in the wreck when the race report says that he was, and the footage shows him hitting the wall. However, it is also important to note how NASCAR treated another driver listed in that report.
Kyle Larson, who had made contact with Chastain at the start of the crash, was allowed to keep his spot because he maintained his speed after the initial contact. Busch had nowhere else to go but into Chastain’s path, and NASCAR judged that Busch did the best he could to avoid the incident.
While Busch might have been on the DVP, the broadcast does not show him pitting under the ensuing caution. If he had pitted, he would have forfeited his position no matter what.
Was NASCAR right or wrong? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube.
Three races, three wins, and three straight celebrations with Michael Jordan. History was made at Circuit of the Americas as Tyler Reddick opened the season with an unprecedented three straight victories, holding off Shane van Gisbergen in the Texas heat while chaos and strategy shuffled the field behind them. Here’s how it scored on the Groovy Gauge, powered by Lectric eBikes.
After two wildcards to kick off the 2026 season, NASCAR headed to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for round 3 on the year. The big headline heading into this weekend was whether or not Tyler Reddick could become the first driver in NASCAR history to win three straight races to start a campaign. Three times before, drivers have won the first two races of the year. Now Reddick, fresh off the heels of a Daytona 500 win and a win at Atlanta makes history as the only driver to go three for three.
The No. 45 23XI team is certainly on a roll with a 70-point points lead. However, not everyone had a weekend to remember. Here are the biggest losers of the 2026 NASCAR race weekend at COTA.
Another race weekend, another controversial race for Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day. And it is, yet again, a tangle with a JR Motorsports car that lands him on this list. Late into Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at COTA, Corey Day got into his Hendrick teammate, Connor Zilisch, who was driving the No. 1 car for the team, causing Zilisch to spin out. Up to that point, Zilisch had already overcome a lot of adversity. Heading into one of the tight corners of COTA, Day clipped Zilisch, sending him around and effectively ending his contention for the race win.
After the incident, Connor Zilisch came over the radio and called Day a “total hack” and then, after the race, told reporters that he expects and deserves an apology. Day was a good sport about it all, owning up to his mistakes. But it’s just another week of Day barreling through his competitors that makes this a weekend he’d likely rather forget. To his credit, though, despite the issues, he still managed a top 5 finish. So, at least there’s that.
Unfortunately, Connor Zilisch makes the list. There was a lot of buzz around Connor Zilisch heading into the weekend, considering his dominance on road courses last year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. I think that many fans viewed Saturday’s race as a cakewalk for the young phenom, while others thought that the odds were in his favor to capture his first win on Sunday. Unfortunately for him, none of that came to fruition. While Saturday’s race looked like another SVG/Connor Zilisch thriller in the making, mechanical issues put the driver of the No. 1 car behind the 8-ball. Not to mention a late race incident with Corey Day and Saturday could be considered the win that could have been for Zilisch.
Sunday wasn’t much better. He did manage to keep his nose clean, so there was that. But he was more or less a non-factor most of the race. He started in the back and was able to work his way up and contend for a top 10 finish in the closing laps. Unfortunately, all he could manage was a 14th-place finish.
Undeniably, the odds-on favorite going into today’s race had to be the one, the only, the NASCAR King of the Road himself, Shane van Gisbergen. Despite win-and-you’re-in being a thing of the past, many fan still expect SVG to make the 16-driver Chase for the Cup later this year based on sheer wins at road course races alone. His first opportunity came early with COTA being the third race of the season. Unfortunately, despite winning handily in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday, he wasn’t able to get the job done on Sunday. He was in prime position to win his seventh career cup win but, unfortunately, the stars didn’t align. He was forced to settle for a runner-up finish.
The story going into this weekend’s race at COTA was will Tyler Reddick be able to do the impossible and become the first driver in history to win the first three races of the season. It was a tall order, for sure, but the fact that he scored the pole on Saturday must have put a pep in his step. Early on, he was far from the fastest. As the race wore on, though, he got better and better, ultimately able to outduel the King of the Road, SVG on his own turf.
Because of Reddick’s dominant performance, the last loser on our list this week is the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field. They just did not rise to the occasion, and Tyler Reddick managed to capitalize to make history. Now, they just need to go to Phoenix next week and prevent him from going four in a row. At this rate, though, Reddick might actually embarrass the field once again.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
In this post, we’re breaking down the top 10 all-time lap leaders at Circuit of the Americas, along with key stats, besides reviewing the top 15 active drivers with the most laps led at the track. And that’s not all; we’re also examining some of COTA’s historic track records and the names still holding them, so stick around until the end to check them out
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 2 | 3 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 1 | 2 | 7.3 | 9.3 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 13.7 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 454 | 1 | 0 | 10.5 | 10.8 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 258 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 | 10.3 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 418 | 1 | 0 | 13.0 | 10.3 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 0 | 0 | 18.7 | 17.5 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 0 | 0 | 19.0 | 15.2 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 403 | 0 | 0 | 29.3 | 11.5 |
| Races | Laps Run | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 456 | 0 | 0 | 13.8 | 17.5 |
Let us know your thoughts on this list. Are there any drivers that surprise you? What track record do you think will never be broken? Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
