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Regan Smith makes an illegal move under the yellow to pass Tony Stewart at the finish of the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Jerry Markland/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos
In the wake of Sunday’s controversial finish to the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR late Monday afternoon issues what it called a “rule clarification regarding passing at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.”
Regan Smith passed Tony Stewart on the last lap of the Talladega race to take the apparent victory. But NASCAR ruled that Smith went under the yellow out of bounds line on the bottom of the track, beneath which cars are not allowed to pass.
As a result, Smith was assessed the equivalent of a pass-through penalty. Given that his transgression occurred on the last lap of the race, Smith was scored 18th in the final rundown, the final car on the lead lap. Stewart was awarded the victory.
NASCAR further ruled that Stewart did not force Smith below the yellow line. Has Stewart done so, he would have been penalized.
Talladega and Daytona are the only two tracks with out-of-bounds lines.
NASCAR’s clarification statement said drivers were warned at Talladega about passing under the line during a discussion in the pre-race driver’s meeting. The verbatim language, according to NASCAR, was: “This is your warning: race above the yellow line. If, in NASCAR's judgment, you go below the yellow line to improve your position, you will be black-flagged. If in NASCAR's judgment you force someone below the yellow line (in an effort to stop him from passing you), you may be black-flagged.”
“During the last lap of yesterday's race at Talladega Superspeedway the driver of the No. 01 (Smith) violated NASCAR policy by driving under the yellow line to improve his position,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton. “In NASCAR's opinion he was not forced below the yellow line. NASCAR correctly took immediate action to enforce the policy by penalizing the No. 01 and scoring the No. 20 (Stewart) as the race winner.”
“Since the end of the race there has been some confusion as to what is allowable during the last lap at Daytona
NASCAR came under fire in some circles for Sunday’s ruling, since in the past, there have been inconsistencies in how the rule was interpreted on the last lap.
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
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