Three weeks into the 2025 NASCAR season, and every race weekend has been tangled up in confusion over officiating. The latest snag hit Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) Cup Series race due to unclear track rules.
Early in the race, teams were baffled as to why NASCAR wasn’t cracking down on drivers cutting Turn 6. The sanctioning body had told drivers they couldn’t shortcut Turns 3, 4, and 5 in the esses, but Turn 6—right in the same stretch—seemed wide open. It had many drivers puzzled.
On Tuesday’s SiriusXM show, Cup Series managing director Brad Moran tackled the issue. He said NASCAR had told teams there’d be no penalties for cutting Turn 6, sticking to how they’d handled it all weekend. “It worked out fine after that, but there was some confusion,” Moran said. “Most teams were on board, but a few weren’t, and that’s our fault. We’ll make sure it’s clear next time.”
Moran explained that last-minute changes had muddied the waters. Even the broadcast team was thrown off at first, though it got straightened out. He promised NASCAR would tighten up its communication going forward.
This isn’t the only headache this season. The Daytona 500 finished under green despite a last-lap crash, with NASCAR admitting they’d jumped the gun on the heels of a qualifying race caution mistake. Then at Atlanta, the Xfinity race ended under green despite a big final-lap wreck. But the next day, the Cup race wrapped under caution—with leaders in Turn 3—after a backstretch crash. Drivers had pushed for a caution like in the Xfinity event, but NASCAR went the other way.
The season is young, but these officiating stumbles are stacking up. After three straight weekends of hiccups, NASCAR needs to get it’s act together.
Credit: AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 02: Connor Zilisch, driver of the #87 Red Bull Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on March 02, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)