zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
In NASCAR, It'll Cost $25,000 If The Faux Camera Setup In Your Car Isn't The Correct Weight
In NASCAR, It'll Cost $25,000 If The Faux Camera Setup In Your Car Isn't The Correct Weight-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:18

Sometimes, the lesser known racing rules are some of the best. Everyone knows drivers can’t pass for position below the yellow line at Daytona and Talladega in a NASCAR race, but you can bet most people don’t know it’s a $25,000 fine if a “simulated weight” to replace an in-car television camera isn’t heavy enough.

The rule is almost funny to think about at first: NASCAR Wednesday that Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car didn’t meet specifications after the Martinsville Speedway race Sunday. NASCAR requires teams that aren’t carrying in-car TV cameras to use a “simulated weight” that mimics the weight of the camera so no one is at an advantage or disadvantage, and NASCAR said Bowyer’s simulated weight “did not meet ... specifications.”

It’s obscure, and something that wouldn’t really come to mind as an infraction unless you saw it in print. But it makes sense, since race cars alone shouldn’t be at a weight advantage or disadvantage because the TV crew wants some good angles. (What drivers do with their own bodyweight, well, that’s up to them.)

NASCAR didn’t specify what about Bowyer’s weight didn’t meet its standards, but it was almost surely too light in comparison to the TV cameras. A NASCAR spokesperson told Jalopnik that they weren’t able to give exact numbers on Bowyer’s infraction, but that the simulation weight needs to be 13.2 pounds to match the TV camera and that there’s a .22-pound tolerance going either way. That’s a lot heavier than the GoPro-style camera that comes to mind.

Teams manufacturer the simulation weights themselves, and TV crews give them the cameras when it’s their week to have an in-car feed. The weights of the cameras don’t change when NASCAR’s top two national series switch from FOX to NBC in the middle of the season.

But no matter how big or small the discrepancy was, the penalty came with a real hurting: Bowyer’s crew chief, Mike Bugarewicz, will have to pay a $25,000 fine and serve a suspension for the upcoming Texas Motor Speedway race, the team lost 10 points in the owner and driver standings, and Bowyer’s third-place finish from Martinsville is encumbered. In NASCAR speak, that means he’ll keep it but , but he’s not in the title running anyway.

Those consequences are all if the Bowyer’s race team doesn’t try to appeal the penalty, which they can always do. But if anything, their penalty woes taught us all a new and weird rule—and that NASCAR uses some heavy in-car cameras.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
How This Sustainable Alternative to Carbon Fiber Holds Up In A Crash Test
How This Sustainable Alternative to Carbon Fiber Holds Up In A Crash Test
Carbon fiber changed the motorsport game when Formula One teams started using it to fabricate cars in the 1970s. A bunch of carbon atoms weaved together, carbon fiber is stiff, strong, and light—the perfect material from which to build competitive, aerodynamically-sensitive machines. But in an ecologically-conscious world, there might...
Apr 3, 2026
This New Electric Racing Series Sounds Like Formula E But With Road Cars
This New Electric Racing Series Sounds Like Formula E But With Road Cars
There’s yet another all-electric racing series coming to town. SuperCharge is a road car series with eight events planned for 2022. It aims to span Europe, the US, the Middle East, and China by bringing road-ready EVs to city streets across the globe. In a lot of ways, it...
Apr 3, 2026
Lewis Hamilton Scores The Most Wins In Formula One History At 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton Scores The Most Wins In Formula One History At 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix
To flesh out the 2020 Formula One season, The Powers That Be fleshed out empty weekends with tracks that have either never appeared in F1 before or haven’t been part of the calendar for years. Some have been fun, some have been boring—but whatever else happens, we need to...
Apr 3, 2026
Will Power Takes IndyCar St. Pete Pole, Championship Contenders To Start Farther Back
Will Power Takes IndyCar St. Pete Pole, Championship Contenders To Start Farther Back
Tomorrow’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg marks the IndyCar Series’ final event and the one that will decide the championship contender. But at the end of a messy qualifying session came a little bit of the familiar: Will Power took pole position for the last race of the year....
Apr 3, 2026
Franco Morbidelli Takes Second MotoGP Victory At Tereul Grand Prix, Tightens Championship Fight
Franco Morbidelli Takes Second MotoGP Victory At Tereul Grand Prix, Tightens Championship Fight
Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli had just about everything go his way at Sunday morning’s Tereul Grand Prix in Aragon, finishing two seconds ahead of his closest competition. It’s his second win of the 2020 season and a provides a s=olid improvement for his championship hopes. “ It really was...
Apr 3, 2026
Scott McLaughlin's Expectations For His IndyCar Debut
Scott McLaughlin's Expectations For His IndyCar Debut
Three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin will finally have his shot at an IndyCar Series debut. Originally scheduled to compete in the Indianapolis Grand Prix in May, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the New Zealander to put his open-wheel plans on hold. But today at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,...
Apr 3, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved