So much for that tradition.
For many years now, NASCAR drivers have celebrated a win by climbing out of their car and hopping up on the roof in Victory Lane. In fact, one of the most iconic celebrations in the sport’s history came back during the 2001 Pepsi 400 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his emotional win after the death of his father by standing on top of his car in the infield with teammate Michael Waltrip.
Now, there were a few years when NASCAR put an end to the celebration. They even had a PVC barrier that they would put around the car to block the drivers from climbing on top. It’s so ridiculous that you have to see it for yourself if you don’t remember those days…
And during the “Car of Tomorrow” era, drivers generally refrained from standing on their cars because of minimum height requirements: They didn’t want their car to fail inspection because it didn’t meet minimum height due to the driver standing on top of it during the celebration.
But in recent years we’ve seen more and more drivers bring the iconic celebration back to Victory Lane, and honestly, I’m here for it.
After this weekend, though, it seems like teams may once again be cracking down on the longstanding tradition.
In case you somehow missed it, NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch suffered a broken collarbone after falling off his car in Victory Lane, an scary moment that quickly turned embarrassing for the 19-year old rookie phenom:
Luckily the injuries weren’t any more severe, and Zilisch announced this morning that he had surgery on his broken collarbone to hopefully speed up the recovery. Although the wristband that they put on him in the hospital seemed like an unnecessary shot…
But it sounds like the incident may affect celebrations in the future.
Zilisch appeared on the popular racing podcast Door Bumper Clear, where he revealed that at least one driver told him that their team’s competition director informed drivers that they were no longer allowed to stand on top of their car after a win:
“A driver, we’re at the airport and he goes, ‘Yeah, in our pre-race meeting today…their comp director or whoever said that if we win we can’t stand on the car anymore.’ It was like a new rule for them.”
He wouldn’t reveal which driver or team it was, but after the Cup Series race on Sunday, winner Shane Van Gisbergen appeared to be pretty careful getting out of his car:
Zilisch, like Van Gisbergen, is also signed to Trackhouse Racing, and is widely expected to move up to the Cup Series next year to take over the #99 car after the team announced earlier this year that they would be parting ways with Daniel Suarez. So it might be smart for them to go ahead and implement the “no standing on the car” rule now (or as the DBC crew called it, “the Connor rule”) just to make sure they don’t risk any more injuries to their drivers.
But Denny Hamlin also revealed on his podcast that you won’t see him standing on his car any time soon either. While discussing the incident, the driver said that his days of climbing on top of his car are over:
“I’d still be in the hospital. I mean, to be young again…holy crap. There’s no way. I don’t think I’m ever going to stand on top of my car again.”
Unfortunately, as exciting as the celebrations are, that’s probably a good call.
