Why did NASCAR not penalize Jimmie Johnson at Charlotte?

Each week SB Nation’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi answers your questions about the latest news and happenings within the sport. If you have a future mailbag question, email jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.

I’m wondering about Cole Pearn. It seems to me he is the reason Martin Truex Jr. is winning so much and Furniture Row Racing is so good. Also, do you think he’s the best crew chief in NASCAR and is the main reason why Truex is the championship favorite?

--Doug

Considering Chad Knaus has seven Cup Series championships on his résumé — including a stirring title run last year — he is firmly entrenched atop any “Best Crew Chief” list. But while Pearn may not be No. 1, he certainly warrants a spot near the top of the rankings.

It is no coincidence that since Pearn took over crew chief duties for Truex the No. 78 team has emerged as a dominant force. During this span (2015-present) only Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson (13 victories apiece) have amassed more victories than Truex’s 11, and barring a complete collapse in the third round Pearn should lead FRR and Truex back to the championship round for the second time in three years.

What separates Truex from most of his contemporaries is not just that his No. 78 Toyota is fast every single week regardless of the track, but how that speed compels the competition to employ pit strategy it likely wouldn’t otherwise in attempt to keep pace. Because without such gambits, it’s awfully hard to beat Truex outright and rarely is it that Pearn is caught in a position where he has to deviate from his game plan because of strategy calls that backfire placing Truex in scramble mode on the track.

And it is that speed combined with high-level execution why Pearn deserves a bulk of the credit for transforming FRR from a scrappy Cinderella into a powerhouse. Further indicating Pearn has gotten the best out of his driver is that before Truex joined FRR and paired with Pearn after an underwhelming first season with the Denver-based team, Truex had won merely twice in nine years and never had finished better than 11th in points.

Truex deserves his share of credit, too. He’s demonstrated to be a good driver who seldom makes mistakes and can win on any style track. More than anything, he and Pearn are a perfect complement, much like Knaus and Johnson where their accomplishments are intertwined and you cannot separate one from the other.

Why the heck did Jimmie Johnson not get penalized on Sunday? I’m not some crazy, unhinged conspiracy theorist, but it sure seems like NASCAR gave him a break when it probably shouldn’t have.

--Marty

For those who didn’t see it, Marty is referring to a pit stop Johnson made with 54 laps remaining in the Bank of America 500. As Johnson began to leave his stall he stopped with the nose outside the box so the front-tire changer could tighten the lug nuts on the left side.

By all appearances, Johnson looked to be in clear violation of the rule prohibiting a team from servicing a car if any part of the car is outside the pit box. Except NASCAR didn’t penalize the defending champ and he left Charlotte Motor Speedway with a seventh-place finish.

Naturally, social media was abuzz with why NASCAR never issued a penalty. Adding to the murkiness over the ruling, NASCAR vice president of competition Scott Miller offered a confounding explanation Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Miller said no penalty was called because it’s deemed a safety issue for a car to go onto the track with a wheel not properly secured and had “consistently” ruled as such under similar circumstances.

An understandable rationale, except one problem, which Miller then illuminated:

“I don’t know that every single team up and down pit road knows that’s the way we’ve been calling it,” he said. “There’s a lot of subtleties up and down pit road and if we tried to communicate everything that we discuss in every one of our meetings about pit road officiating it’d probably inundate the teams with information and they’d probably end up more confused than they are now.

“Does everybody know that’s the way we’ve been calling it? Potentially not. But the ones that have done it and not been called certainly know.”

Huh? Think about that for a second.

Not only does NASCAR have rules in place that are not listed in its rulebook, but not every team is informed of them because they may become overwhelmed with information. None of this makes sense nor is it an acceptable way for a sanctioning body should govern. Continuation of a recent rash of inexcusable incompetence, which includes an ambulance parking at the entrance to pit road during a round of pit stops, amidst a critical stretch where a championship is at stake.

This said, it is worth noting Denny Hamlin, a member of the Driver Council that has the ear of NASCAR executives, said he and other drivers were comfortable with the explanation they received from NASCAR officials about the non-call, according to NBC Sports. If that is so, then fine. But this doesn’t change the fact that the rule needs to be public knowledge where every team understands it beforehand, not after.

My boy Chase Elliott finished second. Again. Should I be encouraged about this or frustrated that he can’t get that first win? It feels like he should’ve won by now and with how Dover ended I’m wondering if he has it in him.

--Ben

There is no reason to think Elliott’s initial win won’t happen sooner rather than later, nor reason to think he is destined to become a perennial bridesmaid.

Elliott is in his second full season and going through a process many young drivers experience where you need to lose so you can learn to win. How the finish played out two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway is a perfect example.

Busch, running second, adjusted his line and was able to navigate traffic faster than Elliott, who remained fixated on staying in the bottom groove. Afterward, the 21-year-old was visually frustrated and blaming himself, though there was no shame in losing to a veteran who also happens to be one of the very best. These are lessons he can use the next time he finds himself in such a situation.

As for what transpired Sunday, no one except for maybe Larson had a car capable of outrunning Truex. That Elliott finished second for the third time in four playoff races, had a good points day and placed himself in a good position to advance to the semi-finals is a positive and shouldn’t be viewed as anything less — even if it left his fans wondering when that breakthrough victory is going to coming.