November 9th, 2021
Season 3
Round 3

Results

The first penalty resulting in disqualification from qualifying in ATC history was the result of a very strange incident. The league had returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway for a Sprint Challenge early in Season 3. Logan McKinzie had put it on pole and won the first heat, in an event that featured the smallest starting field ever in the league. 8 cars lined up for Heat 2, which saw Slug start P3 and quickly pull away to grab victory by a margin of over 10 seconds in the second heat.

The incident we’re interested in though, happened on the final lap of that second heat. McKinzie had been running in P2 and was frantically defending against a hard charging Jerome Bajulaz and Jorge Zuniga. McKinzie took the checkered flag, rounded the first corner, and slowed down for the cooldown lap. Then Bajulaz plowed into the back of him, stacking Zuniga into the two of them.

The moment of impact. (liveries may not be period correct)

McKinzie had made a fatal error: it was not the checkered flag he had taken, but the white flag. As a result, he parked it on the racing line with Bajulaz less than 4 tenths behind, unable to react in time. McKinzie didn’t even realize what had happened until after T3, at which point he had almost caused another wreck where Zuniga nearly rear-ended him for going slowly again.

Bajulaz ended up in the barrier, completely blindsided. (liveries may not be period correct)

The incident promoted Daniel Cedeno from P5 to P3, and dropped Bajulaz to P5 to finish. McKinzie parked it and was classified in P6 for the heat. He would recover in the Feature, finishing just 3 tenths off of eventual winner Zuniga. Bajulaz was inverted into Pole for the Feature, but it just wasn’t meant to be as he slammed into the outside wall while exiting the chicane on L1.

Bajulaz is joined by Cedeno in the wall on L1 of the Feature. (liveries may not be period correct)

The stewards were quick to exercise their new power for Season 3 that allowed for a driver to be disqualified from qualifying in the next event. When this race was held, the 30 second time penalty was not yet associated with it, so McKinzie’s P6 in the second heat stood. He would go on to collect his second championship in that season, able to put this incident fully behind him. The league has not returned to Charlotte since, as of Season 6.