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Chase Briscoe won the Cook Out Southern 500.
NASCAR is looking into a strange problem that showed up during a recent race. Three drivers, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, and Chad Finchum, all had their cars start smoking out of nowhere. The smoke forced them to pull off the track early.
What made this even stranger is that all three cars were Ford models. It’s rare to see several cars from the same brand break down in the same way during the same race. It left fans, teams, and NASCAR officials scratching their heads.
Wayne Forde, who helps run safety and inspections for NASCAR, talked about it on the Hauler Talk podcast. He said they don’t yet know what caused the problem.
“There wasn’t anything that really jumped out at us and said, ‘Yeah, this is exactly what happened. Here’s the fix,” Forde said. “We have been in conversation with Team Penske, and they have some theories as well that we’re looking into. So more to come, and it’s still a little bit early in the process. There may be some changes for New Hampshire Motor Speedway.”
Right now, it’s a mystery. But NASCAR is working with engineers and race teams to figure it out before it happens again.
Could It Be a Ford Issue?
One of the first things NASCAR wants to check is if the issue is linked to Ford cars. Forde pointed out that it’s odd for this to happen only to cars from one brand.
“It doesn’t seem like it can just be a coincidence where it’s just Fords, so maybe there is something there,” he said. “That’s part of what we’re looking into and having discussions with Penske, and that’s part of the investigation into whether this is a Ford problem, or if there’s some kind of setup or how their headers are designed.”
Headers are parts of the exhaust system that help push out engine fumes. If they’re not working right, it can cause overheating and smoke. NASCAR wants to see if something about the Ford header design is making them more likely to fail.
Team Penske, which runs Ford cars, is also studying what happened. They may share their own data and ideas with NASCAR’s engineers. Everyone wants to make sure this doesn’t happen again, especially at high-speed tracks where smoke can block vision and cause crashes.
Fixes Might Come Before New Hampshire
Forde said it’s possible NASCAR could make small rule changes before the next race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. One idea they talked about is adding a right-side debris panel on the cars. That could help block hot air and pieces of rubber or track dirt from getting into the engine area.
But Forde also said they don’t think that’s the main problem.
“That probably won’t happen because we don’t believe that is the cause of the issue,” he explained. “We’re still digging into it, working with the teams and the engineers here at the R&D Centre. If there is something that needs to be addressed for New Hampshire, we certainly will.”
For now, NASCAR is asking teams to check their cars more closely. They hope to find out if it was just bad luck or if something in the car design caused it.
Races are fast and risky enough on their own; no one wants sudden clouds of smoke adding to the danger. The next few weeks will show if NASCAR finds the problem before the cars hit the track again.
Dogli Wilberforce is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce
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