NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said he believes the sanctioning body provides a level playing field for all manufacturers, and that Twitter comments from Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski were “a little bit of posturing.”
Keselowski incited both a discussion and criticism on Friday when he tweeted about the speed of Toyotas compared to other manufacturers, leading to some back-and-forth with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.
We are all in for a rude awakening.
Haven’t seen NASCAR let a manufacturer get this far ahead since the 70s https://t.co/LttpCz9vJZ— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) September 15, 2017
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O’Donnell was asked about Keselowski’s commentary Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“Certainly our job is to put a level playing field out there,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve got a process that each of the (manufacturers) goes through and kind of witnesses. We believe they are on a level playing field.
“I look at it as a little bit of posturing. Brad certainly ran well this weekend. At the end of the day, you’ve had that car all year long. It’s the playoffs, and you have to go out there and deliver.”
Sunday’s playoffs opener at Chicagoland Speedway saw four different drivers lead at least 40 laps, with all three manufacturers spending time out front — including the top-three finishers in Martin Truex Jr. (Toyota, 77 laps led), Chase Elliott (Chevrolet, 42 laps led) and Kevin Harvick (Ford, 59 laps led).
