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There still seems to be some confusion about Labbe running in an SCCA event at Daytona and why NASCAR got involved so let's look at the details. https://twitter.com/NASCARonReddit/status/1289698739368521728
The event held at Daytona was hosted by the Central Florida Region SCCA chapter and included various classes of cars. While this tells us who put it on, it is inconsequential because the hosting organization is only there to enforce their rules. https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/daytona-double-sarrc-driver-registration-intl-speedway-scca-central-389890
NASCAR drivers must abide by NASCAR rules for testing, whether they are renting the track themselves or paying an entry to someone else that has rented the track, like an SCCA chapter so the SCCA and their rules for the car should not be in the conversation.
If we go into the entry list we find that Labbe is entered in Regional Race Group 7 with a GT-1 class car that is listed as a "2019 Chevrolet Camaro." This is the first hint that it might be a current Xfinity car. https://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.status/uidEvent/77699DF6-B9A7-FAC4-13CA38BE9BDC89C0
While most of the reports on the car seem to list it as a steel-bodied car for some reason, evidence from the entry list as well as photos of the car appear to point to it being a current composite body car. https://twitter.com/WookieAutomoTV/status/1289673198208864256
Now that we have established that this is likely a current spec car like the one that they will race at the Daytona road course in a few weeks we can get into the rules of testing and why that matters.
If we look under "5.1 Private Vehicle Testing" we will find that subsection "b" strictly prohibits testing of current "Xfinity series vehicles or their equivalents" which is the rule that would have been broken.
You will notice that this does not mention anything about drivers learning the track and that is because that is not the issue. The rule is not there to prevent drivers from training at a track but to prevent teams from doing testing of a car like the one that they plan to race.
Exactly. Renting a car like a Spec Miata would have been the right move and would have not gone against any rules because a Miata and a stock car are so different that there wouldn't be useful data to set up the stock car for the race. https://twitter.com/tonn_chris/status/1290276527670571013?s=20
This seems to be the biggest misconception as many are commenting on the fact that Briscoe raced a GT4 car at Road America but that is completely fine because data from a GT4 car is useless to setup an Xfinity car. So driver training is fine, specific vehicle testing is not.
Some drivers even took up that Spec Miata idea and ended up getting a bunch of seat time without going against anything in the rule book. https://twitter.com/willrodgers65/status/1289616267863719937?s=20
This gets us back to the likely reason as to why Labbe and DGM were there and that was data from the car.
Running a current car allows them to collect data much like they would in a practice session prior to a race which gives them an advantage. https://twitter.com/charlie_grafton/status/1290276999215362049?s=20
Running a current car allows them to collect data much like they would in a practice session prior to a race which gives them an advantage. https://twitter.com/charlie_grafton/status/1290276999215362049?s=20
If it is in fact a current Xfinity car as it looks, this gives them a great advantage over other teams because they have less of a guess on how to set up the car to start the race as they could collect basics like tire data or even outfit the car with sensors for more.
While others would make a rough guess on stuff like cambers, tire pressures, and so on, they would be able to get a closer setup using the data they collected if they ended up running all day and with no practice at Daytona this could benefit them significantly.
This is exactly why the 5.1 rules exists in the NASCAR rule book in order to have an equal prevention of vehicle testing for everyone. NASCAR is not preventing a driver from getting seat time or attacking a small team, they are in fact just enforcing a well-known rule.
If they set the precedent that running a current car at a current track is allowed then what would prevent a bigger team from just renting Daytona and bringing a bunch of road course cars to test all day this week?
Here is the entire policy for private vehicle testing. In this case, subsection b is most relevant.
On top of all of this, if they really wanted to be sure that they were in the clear, they could have contacted the series director prior to the event in order to make sure that they had approval to run the event.
From what I understand, they only got about 7 laps in before NASCAR officials stopped them so they likely didn't get much useful data which could lessen any possible penalty that they get but there is a possibility of up to an L2 penalty for violating that policy.
Also, many are speculating on who told NASCAR about them being there but I am really not sure how they expected to get away with it considering that many at the track are familiar with the cars and the fact that NASCAR has offices that are a few hundred feet away from the track.
I like finding gray areas in the rules but you have to be creative and going out testing with a car that clearly looks like a current car is not creative and just an easy way to get caught.
I do understand why they tried to do it because not having practice makes it a lot harder to get a setup right and this likely wouldn’t have happened if there were practice sessions for that race.
It would be a violation and that is the correct interpretation. We should not be focusing on the driver but the fact that the violation is getting data from the car, so the current car being on track is the issue, no matter who is driving. https://twitter.com/DustinTannerVT/status/1290293440576708609?s=20
It doesn’t matter if there aren’t a lot of sensors visible on the car. I can get a bunch from a car just by putting a tire pressure gauge and tire pyro on the car when it comes in for a stop. https://twitter.com/chapgebassi/status/1290295011754426368?s=21 https://twitter.com/chapgebassi/status/1290295011754426368
Why every bit matters. https://twitter.com/TStrunk33/status/1290303002247680000?s=20
Stuff like ride heights can be verified quickly without any special equipment. I've done it on sports cars in the past by doing something as simple as painting the bottom of the splitter and seeing if the car touches.
Setups are going to be incredibly important at the Daytona Road Course because they will basically be trying to find a compromise between two competing setups with intermediate setup needed for the oval section and road course setup needed for the infield.
