NASCAR Second Thoughts: Examining 6 Debatable Decisions at Daytona

The Daytona weekend had plenty of decisions — by both drivers and officials — that led to debate across the garage. So let's dive in and get to the bottom of it.

Here are my thoughts on six pressing decisions (including one which directly impacted the finish of the Daytona 500) across all three series:

6. Justin Allgaier move causing big wreck

This one isn’t all that debatable, as Allgaier took full blame for the incident where he went for a lane that closed up with Denny Hamlin getting a fast run. The 2024 O’Reilly Series champion said there is a difference between how the runs come in that series (his full-time job) and the Cup Series.

"I hate it for everybody else, but I’ll stand here and take the blame square on my shoulders," Allgaier said. "The runs are just different [in Cup]. The willingness for guys to be aggressive in those moments are probably a little bit different on the Cup side.

"Denny wins a lot of these races for a reason, and he’s great at what he does. I’m not upset he went there because he did what he thought he needed to do to put himself in the best position. I just wish I would have done it a little bit differently." 

There is rarely a superspeedway race where no driver has a block or move gone bad. This one was on Allgaier’s shoulders.

5. NASCAR decision not to throw the caution

NASCAR didn’t throw the caution on the final laps, despite wrecks in both the trucks and Cup races, allowing the races to end under green.

Michael McDowell was involved in both. After the truck race, he told me he had no problem with the call as far as his car, since he never stopped moving.

In the Cup race, more cars were involved in the wreck early in the final lap but cars either continued to move or were well on the apron. NASCAR didn’t throw the caution until the wreck at the front of the field was coming to the finish.

The biggest question for NASCAR is how to remain consistent. With another drafting race coming up at Atlanta, that could be more difficult. A 1.5-mile track (laps are much shorter) with less runoff area means less time to allow the track to clear and less time to potentially start moving safety equipment before the pack returns to that spot.

This will also bring up the debate on what warrants a caution on the final lap. I still believe that the final lap should be treated differently because fans come to see a race to the finish. As long as that can be done safely (and, of course, those parameters can be viewed differently). NASCAR needs to continue what it did this past weekend.                      

4. Cleetus McFarland truck approval

NASCAR approved Cleetus McFarland to run the truck race at Daytona. He had run two superspeedway events in ARCA, including finishing the race at Talladega. But it was his first race in a truck.

Mini Tyrrell had never raced ARCA or a truck but was approved as the Ram "Race for the Sea" winner. He just had to do the ARCA test and practice (and race, but the race was after the truck race).

Tyrrell has several years of stock-car racing experience. McFarland had a handful of stock-car starts but is also a popular personality, especially on YouTube. Additionally, he owns a racetrack where he has events.

Both drivers did make laps at Rockingham the week before Daytona in trying to learn more about the truck. And both of them were involved in wrecks in the truck race, but McFarland’s was viewed more for a lack of experience.

NASCAR is in a tough spot with these decisions, as the marketing factors are difficult to ignore. It wouldn’t want to anger McFarland and his fans — the fans that NASCAR desperately wants and needs to grow the sport. And it wants to be open to new ideas from incoming manufacturers. 

I was OK with both. Significant stock-car experience, no matter the level, or at least some superspeedway experience, should be required for approval. And let’s face it, there are drivers out there who have raced for years who still have similar issues and questions about whether they are competent.

3. Fuel-mileage racing

Only the diehard race fan who loves strategy enjoys fuel-mileage racing. Most fans want their driver to be all out. So watching Daytona and Talladega can be frustrating.

The key is how to get the handling bad enough that drivers can make moves and pass but yet not so bad that it creates an unsafe situation. More horsepower? Less downforce? 

The fact that the end of the stages and the race are exciting makes this one of those situations where it would be great to fix. But it can't come with major consequences of even more wrecks and more devastating wrecks at higher speeds.

2. Natalie Decker gets into Sam Mayer

This one is the most perplexing. The wreck happened in the O'Reilly Auto Parts. Then, it was more than 10 seconds after Sam Mayer was involved in the accident before he slid up the track. Natalie Decker, in the high lane, ran into him.

It certainly looked bad for Decker and it looked like she could have slowed more to potentially avoid hitting Mayer as he slid up the track, which would be unexpected.

But Mayer didn’t blame her at all. And Mayer isn’t one to typically shy away from blaming someone.

"The hood was up so I didn’t know which direction I was facing and my steering was gone," Mayer said. "I couldn’t turn and I was trying to brake up the hill. I just couldn’t. ... I hate it for her because she was clear of the wreck."

Decker’s struggles (she has seven lead-lap finishes in 46 national series starts) don't encourage giving her the benefit of the doubt, but this one might look worse than it actually was.

1. Riley Herbst move at the finish line

Brad Keselowski and his team were critical of Riley Herbst.

Riley Herbst and his team were matter of fact that a driver makes moves to win the Daytona 500 and Keselowski has made moves in the past with that philosophy that caused wrecks.

This is one where the optics look like "how in the world was that going to work," but those type of moves are also the ones that we celebrate when they do work.

Herbst told me he was trying to win the Daytona 500 (and it also appeared he didn't want to push Chase Elliott by his teammate). Keselowski thought it was a stupid move.

The worst part about it for Herbst is that it overshadowed a little bit of his contribution to his teammate's Tyler Reddick's win for 23XI Racing.

The stupid moves are the ones that don't work. The incredible moves are the ones that do. 

Which leads me to this question that is tough to answer: Is it possible to have a stupid move be acceptable when trying to make an incredible one?

In Second Thoughts, Bob Pockrass offers his opinion on a burning motorsports topic.