Seventy-five percent of the field found themselves under minimum speed at one point during the first stage of the Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
That staggering number forced NASCAR to take action, delivering a warning straight to the teams through its Microsoft Teams chat system. During an episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde explained how the governing body handled the situation.
According to Forde, the message went out to all of pit road via the chat system to warn that a massive chunk of the pack had failed to reach the required pace. The warning made it clear that officials would have to step in if speeds did not increase. Thankfully, the message worked, the field picked up the pace, and no one was hit with a black flag.
Minimum speed at Talladega is set within 12.5% of the pole position. Forde noted that while officials decide when to issue a black flag for falling below that pace, drivers typically receive a lap or two to get their machines moving faster.
Context matters immensely depending on the venue, of course. At Darlington Raceway, for instance, officials offer teams a much larger cushion over the course of a tire run because severe tire wear causes speeds to drop significantly, and the goal is to avoid parking cars due to degradation.
Ultimately, keeping machines on the track remains the priority. Forde emphasized that enforcing minimum speed ties into the Damaged Vehicle Policy designed to keep cars raceable after incidents, while also protecting the interests of sponsors and fans who want to see their drivers circulating even if they are out of contention.
