CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Column By Tom Baker -- Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images - Sunday's NASCAR Xfinity 500 Cup Series race at Martinsville was nothing short of a fantastic race, but nobody will remember it for being so because of manipulation by at least two teams in the final laps and NASCAR's controversial decision on a restart with less than 100 laps to go. 

Let's start with NASCAR's botched restart on lap 407.   

Kyle Busch had a tire come off on the track in turn three coming to the green, and NASCAR threw the green for the restart, then went back to yellow. 

What's the problem with this? 

The problem is that NASCAR lined up the cars for the next restart according to the way they crossed the line at the finish line, which means they counted the quarter-lap of racing.  

This meant that William Byron lost the lead to Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney lost two spots. NASCAR could have, and in my opinion should have, simply "waved off" the green and went back to the order the cars were in before Busch's tire was lost and went back racing.

But wait...there's more. 

The last few laps saw Bubba Wallace call a flat tire over his radio and he slowed down suddenly on the last lap, causing Christopher Bell to take evasive action, hitting the wall.  Bell was fighting for the last playoff spot and at that time was one spot out, behind William Byron, who had more controversy behind him.  

Fellow Chevy drivers Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon were side by side for several laps behind Byron, leading some to wonder if they weren't blocking for him.  

When Bell hit the wall, he hit the gas, and pulled what looked like a "hail melon" (Ross Chastain's video game move from Martinsville two years ago that was banned by NASCAR for safety reasons).  He passed Wallace to gain a spot, and despite Byron "holding off" Chastain and Dillon, Bell's move got him into the final round of the playoffs.  

Until it didn't. 

NASCAR took several minutes to sort through the chaos and multiple incidents of potential manipulation.  They decided to penalize Bell for the safety violation, putting Byron back into the championship four going into Phoenix. 

I think NASCAR made the right call on Bell.  It's a clear violation of a rule and it needed to be called.  

But wait..there's more.  

NBC, playing radio transmissions from both Dillon's team and Chastain's team after the race, revealed the obvious intention to block for Byron.  We don't know who gave the order, but someone did.  

Was it Rick Hendrick? Was it Chevrolet? Was it someone from a team? Who was it?  

We only know that someone came up with the plan, that both the No. 1 team and No. 3 team knew of it and were following the orders to help Byron.  

We do not know if Byron or the No. 24 team knew of it.  

I am 100 percent sure NASCAR will look into this, and I wouldn't be surprised if either the No. 1 or the No. 3 teams were penalized. They have to be.  The radio transmissions give away the intent. 

If NASCAR can prove that someone from the No. 24 team was involved, then Byron should be out of the playoffs as well.  

Fans (and Brad Keselowski, to name one driver) are saying that this should be the end of the playoffs. 

 
I like the playoffs but I wouldn't care if they went away.  The format in February is the same for everyone. 

Go to Daytona and let's go racing.  

But I don't believe NASCAR will kill the playoff system and I don't think you can blame the system for the teams' and drivers' actions today. 

That's like blaming the gun for a murder.  

First, I think there's far too much OEM interference in races nowadays in NASCAR's Cup Series.  I don't know what you can do to stop it, but we know that the groups pit together at Daytona and Talladega, someone clearly gave an order to Dillon and Chastain not to pass Byron, and maybe someone asked Bubba to slow down for Byron (flat tires are easy to check, so this is easily provable one way or the other).  

I don't mind teammates within an organization helping each other.  That's to be expected. 

But I surely hope NASCAR's not going to look the other way if OEMs start giving orders.  That's F1, not NASCAR.  

Whoever gave the order to Chastain and Dillon to block for Byron should be heavily disciplined, if even the originator can be proven.  

If you cannot figure out where the order came from, then both of those teams need to be penalized heavily for conspiring to manipulate not just the outcome of the race, but the outcome of the championship race as well by keeping someone else out and putting Byron in. 

This season has been riddled with fumbles by NASCAR's Cup Series directors in operating the races.  Inconsistent decisions regarding late-race cautions, not seeing the tire off the No. 8 car before the green and then not just reverting to the pre-restart order, and taking days to meter out penalties that clearly could be decided at the track are all a part of NASCAR's 2024 Cup season.

They need a can of polish and a rag before we get to Daytona next year to clean up their consistency in those areas.    

But, the notion that "this is what you get when you have playoffs" is a poor excuse for bad behavior by the teams and drivers like we saw today.  

I would accept it if teams hadn't cheated and drivers hadn't driven over aggressively since the first motorsports race decades ago.  

I will agree, however, that the shenanigans are escalating and Martinsville is becoming the main inflection point because it's the last race before the championship.  

Fans are running away from NASCAR in droves due to the policies and decisions the body has made over the last few years. NASCAR is chasing a different demographic so they don't seem too concerned.  

Time will tell whether they should be or not.  

The integrity of the sport was violated today by at least two teams (Chastain and Dillon) and whoever gave the order.  If NASCAR doesn't penalize those involved heavily to discourage future instances, more and more discussion is going to be had about the shift by NASCAR's top brass to favor "entertainment" over racing.  

I don't think that's a good thing for the future of the sport.  

What do you think?