NASCAR News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

? Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Restart zone at Phoenix to be repainted and moved after being incorrectly moved up for NASCAR Trucks Championship

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Steve Samra | Last updated 11/4/23

The controversies during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title race at Phoenix weren’t limited to the drivers on the track.

While there was plenty of drama between contenders, NASCAR had to make some modifications to the track after Friday’s race at Phoenix. Specifically, the restart zone, which apparently was in the wrong spot for the Truck Series.

“As noted by the @CouchRacerShop account, the restart zone at Phoenix has been moved,” Jeff Gluck of The Athletic posted on X. “You can see the old one to the left, painted over in black. Blue is the new zone. Start/finish line is much closer now, to the right.

As noted by the @CouchRacerShop account, the restart zone at Phoenix has been moved. You can see the old one to the left, painted over in black. Blue is the new zone. Start/finish line is much closer now, to the right. pic.twitter.com/aVnLjl1qI7
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) November 4, 2023

“… The restart zone at Phoenix was incorrectly/mistakenly moved up. NASCAR realized it and decided to keep it for Trucks. It will be repainted/moved overnight before Xfinity and Cup races.”

Evidently, NASCAR had mistakenly moved the restart zone for the Truck Series, but it’s back in the right spot for the Xfinity Series finale on Saturday, and the Cup Series to follow on Sunday.

Nevertheless, it’s a pretty big blunder to make in the most important race of the season for the Truck Series. Thankfully, the drivers on Friday night were told of the mistake before the race, per Gluck, and agreed to simply rock with it.

“They did realize it, but NASCAR asked the Truck teams what they thought and the teams were OK with keeping it where it was tonight,” Gluck posted on X. “Xfinity and Cup teams asked for it to be moved back to its intended location.”

Moreover, the Truck Series race just fell apart after Carson Hocevar spun out Corey Heim, and it had nothing to do with the restart zone. It made it tense. It looked like Heim would run away with it. Then, you put that behind you and it was a race between Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger.

It made a lot of drivers and NASCAR figures disappointed to see the race spiral into wrecks and restarts. Tyler Reddick had choice words for Hocevar. Heim then got revenge on a wreck, but that caused more controversy.

Towards the end of the race, Enfinger was leading and then these restarts began to pile up. Rhodes was able to beat him out. That’s when Enfinger took a wild Hail Mary and got four tires on a pit stop. During all of these restarts, the 23 truck moved up with the freshest tires on the track. It was an amazing finish after four restarts to end the race.

Still, NASCAR fans are hoping for a little less controversy when it comes to the Xfinity Series and Cup Series finales this weekend. Too much of a good thing is simply too much, and the Truck Series gave us all we could handle.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: