Sources close to a Cup Series team confirmed Monday that a crew chief, operating on approximately 45 minutes of sleep, accidentally ordered 22 gallons of cold brew instead of Sunoco race fuel during a pre-dawn logistics call.

How It Happened

"He was on his third phone call of the morning, and the fuel order hotline and his DoorDash app are apparently right next to each other in his recent calls," explained a team spokesperson.

The error was not discovered until a crew member noticed the fuel cans smelled "suspiciously delicious."

The Silver Lining

While the coffee obviously could not be used as race fuel — despite the crew chief's insistence that "it has more energy per ounce than anything Sunoco makes" — the team reportedly had the most alert pit crew in the garage area.

"Our tire changers were operating at superhuman speed. Literally vibrating. One of them changed all four tires in 1.2 seconds. He also hasn't blinked since Tuesday."

NASCAR's Ruling

NASCAR has not issued a formal rule against coffee-based fuel systems, though a spokesperson noted they "really hope they don't have to."

The crew chief has since been encouraged to get more sleep, or at least label his phone contacts better.