zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Last Night's Massive NASCAR Power Saw Is Totally Legal For Now
Last Night's Massive NASCAR Power Saw Is Totally Legal For Now-September 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:04

Many of you watching last night’s race may have experienced a bit of deja vu as you watched a pit crew pull out a massive powered cutoff wheel and starting hacking their Toyota to pieces. But unlike the last time it happened, it’s totally within the rules this time.

At least for now. Here’s the saw in action last night:

Two years ago, NASCAR fans went nuts for Martin Truex Jr.’s pit crew after they were caught on camera taking a giant gas-powered cutoff wheel to the No. 78 Toyota’s body:

That turned out to be against NASCAR rules, it was later determined, and the gas-powered mega-saw had to go away. But last night it returned, now completely electric, and according to the rules, that’s totally fine.

Here’s how the rules were specifically clarified to ban the gas-powered saw back in 2018, from :

NASCAR announced Wednesday that it was mandating teams “only use traditional battery-powered equipment to repair a vehicle on the service side of the pit wall,” including “reciprocating saws, rivet guns, screw guns and drills.”

So, while many think the saw was banned for being obviously egregious in its likely ability to simply hack off problematic parts of a car, perhaps to an unfair advantage, that’s not actually the issue, according to NASCAR’s rules. That part is totally fine, as long as it’s electric. At least for now.

Here’s the kicker, though. The car that had a saw taken to its bumpers, possibly to clear damaged parts, or possibly to increase cooling to an area like the wheel-well, was the No. 19 car driven by Martin Truex Jr. again, with the same old pit crew as before, which—and you’ll never believe this—won the race last night.

Jalopnik contributor Bozi Tatarevic further clarified that the No. 19 car’s former crew chief Cole Pearn also tweeted his belief that the electric saw is legal, despite the previous gas saw ban:

A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed to Jalopnik that the electric saw is allowed under the current rules, and that its use in cutting of a potentially damaging broken piece of the car is likely to disrupt the aerodynamics of the car enough to offset any possible benefit.

The car of the race.

But hey, everybody else could have their own giant electric saw, if they were as smart as these guys.

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
The Panoz LMP1 Roadster-S Bucked Tradition And Looked Good Doing It
The Panoz LMP1 Roadster-S Bucked Tradition And Looked Good Doing It
I’m sorry, this is America. We don’t do mid-engine race cars. Shove a big V8 up front and point that long nose where you want it to go, then jam on the loud pedal and you’re bound to win. Straight out of the heart of Georgia, up jump the...
Sep 2, 2025
How to Camp at the Track When You Hate Camping
How to Camp at the Track When You Hate Camping
There comes a time in every race fan’s life when they have to make a crucial decision. Do I spend an obscene amount of money on a hotel and commute to the track somehow, or do I strip away all the conveniences of modern life and camp? Sometimes, though,...
Sep 2, 2025
This Hillclimb Car Is A Freaking Legend
This Hillclimb Car Is A Freaking Legend
Like meeting a stranger in a strange place, this circle track legends car has been converted to compete in short narrow hillclimb events in the UK. Instead of howling around a short dirt oval ever turning in one direction, this freed beast shouts its way up a sub-1-minute course....
Sep 2, 2025
Teens Set Fire to Old Race Track, Get Caught Posting It on Snapchat
Teens Set Fire to Old Race Track, Get Caught Posting It on Snapchat
There are a few basic guidelines for social media, with some main ones being to , for obvious reasons, and, if you’re going to commit a crime, not to post about it online—again, for obvious reasons. But that’s exactly what some teens did at a Pennsylvania speedway recently, leading...
Sep 2, 2025
Oldest F1 Team Claims Their Car Is Bad Because They're So Young
Oldest F1 Team Claims Their Car Is Bad Because They're So Young
There’s so much pre-season hype in that one of the best talking points of the year itself is how every single team but Mercedes chalks up their lack of competition. This time around, it happens to be that Ferrari—F1's oldest still-running team—is claiming itself to be so “young” that...
Sep 2, 2025
Lewis Hamilton Heads Fifth Mercedes 1-2 Victory In A Row At The Spanish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton Heads Fifth Mercedes 1-2 Victory In A Row At The Spanish Grand Prix
The long run to turn one at the Spanish Grand Prix settled Lewis Hamilton’s fortunes for Sunday’s race, as he was able to get off to an excellent start from second on the grid and make his way past the pole sitter, his teammate Valtteri Bottas. The battle went...
Sep 2, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved