When rubbin’ becomes wreckin’: the death of the driver code in NASCAR

Abstract Despite a comprehensive rulebook, NASCAR drivers historically adhered to an informal “Driver Code,” a decentralized system of self-governance that maintained order and sportsmanship through peer-enforced norms. Using Ellickson’s framework of norm emergence in close-knit groups, this paper examines how institutional changes within NASCAR—such as the introduction of the Playoff system, Green-White-Checkers, and restrictions on veteran participation in lower series—have systematically undermined the conditions that sustained this informal governance. These rule changes have disrupted low-cost information flows, removed opportunities for peer sanctioning, and shortened drivers’ planning horizons, incentivizing short-term aggression over long-term cooperation. As a result, the Driver Code has eroded. This paper contributes to the literature on self-governance by illustrating how formal rule changes can unintentionally weaken decentralized enforcement mechanisms, leading to the decline of once-effective norms.