Yellow-line rule

Track Limits are used in NASCAR "superspeedway" ovals (Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and since 2022 following a reconfiguration the year prior, Atlanta Motor Speedway), and on road courses. The rule states that a driver advance cannot their position by passing a car on the track apron which is considered out of bounds and is represented by yellow-line (which is currently a double-yellow line at Daytona and Talladega and a pair of red/white lines at Atlanta). The rule also states that a driver that is found to have forced another driver to go below the line can also be penalized. During its implementation the rule has been subject to numerous controversies and criticism with a number of drivers calling for its removal. Outside of ovals NASCAR enforces track limits at road course races.

History

The rule was first implemented as a safety measure at the 2001 Talladega 500 following a number of incidents of drivers passing under what would have been the yellow-line in an attempt to reduce crashes that were caused by drivers going below the line to pass on straightaways, only to then crash when entering the comers. The rule also followed controversy surrounding the finish of that race's Busch Series counterpart held the day prior; race winner Mike McLaughlin was criticized by runner-up Jimmy Spencer of having swerved his car below the yellow line to block other cars heading into the finish.

Following the 2020 YellaWood 500, NBC commentators Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Jarrett called for NASCAR to remove the track limits rule, but NASCAR, citing safety concerns, said the rule would stay in place.

NASCAR has similar rules on road courses. At Circuit of the Americas, the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel section of the circuit is governed by track limits, with a line a few feet past the boundary used as track limits. At Charlotte Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, cars must be in certain sections of the circuit or they face penalty.

Notable controversies

• 2001 Pepsi 400: Tony Stewart was penalized for passing Johnny Benson below the yellow-line despite protests that he forced under the line.
• 2003 Aaron's 499: Late in the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on the inside and was drafting with Elliott Sadler when Matt Kenseth started moving low in an attempt to block Earnhardt; Earnhardt stormed well below the line entering the turn three apron as he passed Kenseth. NASCAR ruled that Earnhardt was forced below the line as his car's nose had already passed Kenseth's nose by the time Kenseth made the block, making it a clean pass in their opinion, despite the fact Earnhardt was nowhere close to clearing Kenseth when he hit the apron — what the rule was ostensibly intended to prevent; as such Earnhardt was declared as the winner of the race.
• 2006 Budweiser Shootout: During the race, Carl Edwards was penalized for passing cars below the yellow line during the race despite protests that he had done so to avoid an accident. While attempting to serve the penalty, Edwards also received another penalty for speeding in the pit road in doing so.
• 2008 AMP Energy 500: Regan Smith was denied a win over Tony Stewart after NASCAR ruled that Regan Smith went below the line to pass Stewart despite Smith claiming that he was forced under the line by Stewart.
• 2009 Aaron's 499: During a post-race interview, Brad Keselowski said he held his position which lead to the catchfence crash of Carl Edwards that injured seven spectators, in an attempt to avoid a track limits penalty.
• 2011 Budweiser Shootout: Denny Hamlin passed Ryan Newman during the finish of the race, but went below yellow line in doing so. Despite protests that he is technically the race leader while being below the line and thus did not advance his position, Hamlin was penalized.
• 2018 Coca-Cola Firecracker 250: Justin Haley, who had initially won the race was disqualified from his win due to him passing Kyle Larson below the yellow line despite only his left side wheels being the only part that under the line.
• 2018 Bank of America Roval 400: Jimmie Johnson made contact with Martin Truex, Jr. in the final chicane headed to the finish line on Lap 109, for the win. The chicanes on the backstretch near the entrance of what is typically oval Turn 3 and a frontstretch chicane off the exit of oval Turn 4 are governed by track limits. If a driver misses either chicane, they must make a complete stop at a designated point, and then reenter the circuit. Johnson was deemed to have skipped the chicane in the collision and forced to stop at the exit of the chicane, which cost him both the win and because of another further crash, the final playoff advancement position at the end of the first round.
• 2020 YellaWood 500: Following the finish of the race. second-place finisher Matt DiBenedetto and sixth-place finisher Chase Elliott were penalized and moved to 21st and 22nd positions, respectively. NASCAR penalized DiBenedetto for forcing William Byron below the yellow-line, and the sanctioning body penalized Elliott for voluntarily moving under the line. NASCAR later redistributed its penalty originally given to Elliott, assessing it to Chris Buescher for forcing Elliott beyond track limits. Race winner Denny Hamlin also maneuvered under the track limits boundaries on the final corner, but race officials ruled that he was avoiding a potential accident from DiBenedetto and Byron. Despite myriad negative reactions to the decision at Talladega and online, a NASCAR official later said that the rulings were "clear-cut".
• 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard: On Lap 94, the first lap of a two-lap overtime shootout, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin are in tight quarters headed to the Turn 1-2-3 complex. Briscoe runs wide and runs into the grass while racing Hamlin, and then rejoins the track in a dangerous manner. He had violated track limits, and when penalised by NASCAR, collides with Hamlin in Turn 10 to turn Hamlin around. Then Briscoe misses the turn at the Snake Pit section and is penalised even further for the deliberate contact after violating track limits the first time.

References

This article "Yellow-line rule" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Yellow-line rule. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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