NASCAR won't penalize drivers Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch for conversing up close without masks, in spite of its own COVID-19 safety protocols

• NASCAR won't penalize drivers Chase Elliott or Kyle Busch for a conversation they had after a race on Sunday night, during which neither used a face mask or practiced social distancing.
• The conversation occurred after the Coca-Cola 600, in which Elliott had just lost a 600-mile race that was his to lose.
• The penalties would have come per NASCAR's new COVID-19 protocols, which mandate both of the above in addition to other safety practices. They were put in place when NASCAR became one of the first major American sports to return earlier this month amid the pandemic.
• When asked what the conversation was about, NASCAR quoted Elliott as saying: "He just felt bad for us."

NASCAR won't penalize Chase Elliott or two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch for a conversation they had after the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night, in which neither was wearing a mask or practicing social distancing.

That's in spite of the sanctioning body's own COVID-19 safety protocols, which state that either of the above could result in a $10,000 to $50,000 fine.

The conversation happened when Busch went up to Elliott, who had just lost a 600-mile race that was his to lose, to talk. The two had clashed on track just a few days before when Busch wrecked Elliott — which Busch called a miscalculation on his part — in a fashion that led to Elliott giving him the middle finger, making the image of the Coca-Cola 600 conversation the next big thing for NASCAR and its affiliates' social-media channels.

"Pretty classy," the Fox NASCAR Twitter account captioned the photo, while the NASCAR account simply posted a description of what was happening. And it was pretty classy — it just didn't quite follow the new protocols.

Those protocols, added to the rule book in preparation for NASCAR became one of the first major American sports to return to action amid a global pandemic, outline the expectation for anyone at the track. They're in addition to bare-bones team rosters and event schedules, empty grandstands, and a limitation calling for less than a handful of media members at each race.

In the updated rule book, COVID-19 protocols are listed under "Member actions that could result in a $10,000 to $50,000 fine." They read:

Failure to comply with NASCAR's COVID-19 Event Protocol Guidelines and/or instructions from NASCAR including screenings, social distancing, compartmentalization, and use of required personal protective equipment, etc.

When asked by Insider whether NASCAR would take action on the close-quarters conversation given the above, a NASCAR spokesperson simply said, "No." When asked if there was any particular reason behind that ruling, NASCAR did not respond.

NASCAR has touted its long list of COVID-19 procedures as an effort to ensure a "safe" return and "minimize any risks" at the track amid the pandemic, including the above rules. But in perhaps what was the first major public display of those rules being broken, even if likely by accident, nothing will happen.

As for what the conversation between the two was about, Elliott said after the race: "He just felt bad for us."

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