Shane van Gisbergen made headlines at Sonoma for complaining about “sh*tboxes” blocking his way. But Tommy Baldwin says the real issue is that big manufacturers hide their best data from smaller NASCAR teams. SVG’s angry radio rant got all the attention, but the real story is why teams like Rick Ware Racing (RWR) are stuck at the back of the pack to begin with.

“Cody doesn’t get all the information he needs to be better, right? It’s not available to him. They’re not allowed to give it to him, right? He’s not a key partner,” Tommy Baldwin said, speaking on the Door, Bumper, Clear podcast. Baldwin was defending his driver, Cody Ware, who got in SVG’s way during the Sonoma race and sparked the complaint.

SVG did not hold back on the radio. “When the sh*tboxes come out in front, they’re wobbling all over the track,” he said.

In a way, Ware was leading the lapped cars at Sonoma. It wasn’t the easiest of races for him or the other lapped drivers, and although SVG’s comments only came because the lapped cars hampered his lead, giving Chase Briscoe a strong shot at overtaking, there was a lot more that Baldwin eventually revealed.

“I think a lot of these people that are coming into the sport, these drivers, do realize that after three, four races. Again, we’re kind of in the position you were in before you guys made the decision, right? We’re the second half of the manufacturer information,” he added.

Although it is stock car racing, NASCAR isn’t the same for everyone. While top teams like Hendrick Motorsports enjoy being at the top of the field, the smaller teams struggle for a long time. One major reason is the data the manufacturers (OEMs) refuse to share. Rick Ware Racing, having run both Ford and Chevy, knows this better than anyone.

The “key partners” Baldwin talked about are the elite teams. They receive the highest level of manufacturer support, including raw aerodynamic data, access to state-of-the-art simulators, and engine development telemetry. This, understandably, helps the teams develop their cars a lot better.

Meanwhile, lower-tier teams are limited to basic SMT data. This includes real-time steering, braking, and throttle inputs, along with GPS track-line metrics. While this data does help the drivers to improve their overall driving, it limits the team’s development.

This restriction also hurts young drivers entering the Cup Series through smaller teams. They face an uphill battle against elite organizations that have best data to build from.

Baldwin agreed their car was a “sh*tbox” at Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma is one of the most technical tracks on the schedule. Racing there without proper data makes competing nearly impossible.

Why drivers were not fans of NASCAR mandating data sharing

Back in 2018, NASCAR mandated the sharing of ECU and GPU data with all the teams on the field. This was a huge boost for small teams back then. It gave them just enough data to get an edge over competitors and develop a little bit faster.

However, not all the drivers, especially the veterans, were fans of this.

“I’ve spent 13 years in this sport to figure out how to drive a racecar, make it go fast, do the things I do to win races and championships… Now you’re going to hand all that on a piece of paper to a young driver, they’re going to figure it out, as long as they know how to read it,” Kyle Busch famously said.

This was primarily because they grew up racing on a field that wasn’t very easy on the smaller teams. They fought through limited data sharing, slow developmental stages, and other massive challenges. However, with the ECU data now available to the other teams as well, the competition gap could be minimized.

However, close to a decade after this decision was made, the situation still doesn’t seem very comfortable for the lower-tier teams, as Tommy Baldwin’s comments revealed. While there is still more data available than the teams had access to back in the day, the lack of raw data from the manufacturer still makes a massive difference.

SVG’s frustration was justified, but the real reason those backmarkers are struggling is that they simply aren’t given the tools to build a faster car.