It doesn’t sound as though NASCAR is ready to prohibit drivers from tossing their water bottles onto the racetrack, a common practice that came under scrutiny when a bottle was spotted on the apron during a caution for debris in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
It does, however, sound as if the sanctioning body will crack down on the practice of water-bottle tossing if there’s reason to suspect drivers are deliberately doing it to bring out a yellow flag.
Several drivers — most notably Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson — suggested on Twitter after Sunday’s race that NASCAR didn’t need to throw a caution flag for the rogue water bottle.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., meanwhile, voiced his opinion on Twitter that drivers shouldn’t toss anything onto the track — including tear-offs from their helmet visors.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday that drivers tossing bottles out of their window is nothing new.
“Coming off pit road sometimes you see it down on the apron where some water bottles are discarded,” he said.
O’Donnell then explained why NASCAR decided to throw the caution flag for a water bottle during the New Hampshire race.
“I think in this case, we candidly weren’t really sure and knew it was potentially one of the drivers’ ones that are a little bit different with the material they’re made out of,” he said.
It wasn’t clear which driver was responsible for Sunday’s water bottle or whether the driver who discarded of it might have been trying to bring out a caution for debris.
“If someone is purposely trying to manipulate a caution, that’s not something that is going to be tolerated, and we’ll have to look into that further as we go and we’ll address that with the teams also,” O’Donnell said on SiriusXM.
O’Donnell indicated that NASCAR won’t hesitate to bring up the issue with the competitors if it deems a discussion as necessary.
“It’s something that we’ve addressed in the past, and we’ll continue to do that with the drivers,” he said.
