Matt
Kenseth, the driver of the No. 20 car, has been penalized for an infraction
that occurred during the Nov. 1 race at Martinsville Speedway. This is a
Behavioral Penalty (Sections 12.1, 12.8). Kenseth has been suspended from
NASCAR through the completion of the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
championship events and placed on NASCAR probation for a six-month period
following issuance of the penalty notice.
“Based
upon our extensive review, we have concluded that the No. 20 car driver, who is
no longer in the Chase, intentionally wrecked the No. 22 car driver, a
Chase-eligible competitor who was leading the race at the time,” said Steve
O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development
officer. “The No. 20 car was nine laps down, and eliminated the No. 22 car’s
opportunity to continue to compete in the race.
“Additionally,
we factored aspects of safety into our decision, and also the fact that the new
Chase elimination format puts a premium on each and every race. These actions
have no place in NASCAR.”
Additionally,
Danica Patrick, the driver of the No. 10 car, has been penalized for an
infraction that also took place during the Nov. 1 race at Martinsville
Speedway. This is a Behavioral Penalty (Sections
12.1, 12.8). Patrick has been fined $50,000, assessed with the loss of
25 series championship driver points and placed on NASCAR probation through
Dec. 31.
NASCAR got it right for a change!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt would be great for Matt to win "Most Popular Driver" this year.
ReplyDeleteSo much for boys and girls have at it. Sad.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised but I think NASCAR could have avoided this if they had addressed this after Kansas. This was all the media talked about was payback funny how everyone else saw it coming but NASCAR choose not to address this and warned all driver that serious penalty would be given if this happens with any driver. I heard you say NASCAR was not fault and now the umpire must deal with it a GOOD umpire control the situation before it gets out of hand. Shame on everyone for acting badly there is enough blame for everyone including the media and NASCAR great for rating.
ReplyDeleteNascar can't make the same call two weeks in a row. Inconsistency week in and week is going to be the death of them. And they wonder why attendance and tv ratings are down.. Piss poor management!!!!
ReplyDeleteKenseth got what he deserved plain and simple. For some reason drivers view Logano as an 18 year old rookie that needs to earn their respect. Kansas was nothing more than hard racing. Matt should be careful with his appeal.....If Nascar drags it out he could find himself sitting out Homestead and Daytona.
ReplyDeleteBrian; I disagree. NASCAR has an obligation to hold Danica Patrick to the same penalty as Matt Kenseth as they both had the same intention. One executed the plan better then the other. If they don't revise Matt's penalty to the same as Danica; then they will prove Kyle Busch right that NASCAR is consistent at being inconsistent.
DeleteMatt just became co-most liked driver with Junior. It will be interesting to see how Denny responds over the last races. I don't think this is over.
ReplyDeleteLet's everyone vote for Matt Kenseth to be most popular driver if voting is still open to send a message to NASCAR that they won't get anyway.
DeleteThe media and NASCAR see Logano as the victim here, however, he had an opportunity to make a clean move on Kenseth in Kansas and it 's ok with NASCAR to dump a fellow competitor. Nice. He took away an opportunity for Kenseth to advance in the chase so Matt returned what was due to Joey. NASCAR is to blame in this for their silly "boys have at it" mentality.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to police yourselves? What happened to equality? Someone needs to decide if they are enforcing the rules or not. If they are, they need to make the rules and publicize the penalty, then everybody knows the price of admission. I see no equality in this penalty, very disappointed in nascar. ....
ReplyDeleteEveryone is saying what a great race Martinsville was and I agree. The fact of the matter is , if Matt Kensett had not have taken out Lagono. Chances are that Gordon would not have won that race and that would have made it a good race. Not a great race!! Thumbs down to nascar !!!
ReplyDeleteGood point. In a way they should be rewarding Kenseth for giving NASCAR such a great story in Jeff Gordon winning over Joey Logano again.
DeleteLast year, NASCAR made an exception after Richmond and put Gordon into the chase after MWR tried to manipulate the Chase. Have they considered putting Logano into the mix in Homestead?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that will happen if Logano fails to make the final stage of the chase in Homestead.
DeleteIn baseball, the home plate umpire warns both benches BEFORE the bean ball contest gets out of hand. Going forward, maybe NASCAR should adopt a similar policy.
ReplyDeleteI guess even nascar doesn't care about its credibility anymore. 2 drivers, both already wrecked, one announces loud and proud on the radio that they're going to wreck the other one the first time the chance arises, THEN misses the chance and bemoans on the radio that they have to wait until next time. THAT driver gets points and fined. Meanwhile, Matt gets suspended. It's ridiculous and a joke...Brian France is an idiot. Drivers have been exacting their pound of flesh for being wronged for 50 years - now this buffoon decides, with no precedent and in direct contradiction to Danica's penalty, two suspend Matt for 2 races. Why do I even care anymore?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Even though Danica Patrick was less successful at wrecking David Gilland; there is no reason her penalty should be any different then Matt Kenseth. Consistent at being inconsistent.
DeleteAs a lifelong stockcar fan and competitor this is the first time in 45 years I can say I am truly disappointed with "my" NASCAR.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the suspension of Matt Kenseth is way overboard. Given similar albeit not identical circumstances NASCAR has never issued a penalty like this before.
Behavior like what happened Sunday can not be condoned BUT it is a response to the level of pressure and stress that has been placed on the drivers and teams with the advent of the Chase.
By NASCAR's statements if Kenseth had hooked Logano in the right rear on the restart at lap 435 and turned him into the wall in front of the whole field causing a massive Harvick/Bayne style wreck on the very narrow front stretch that would have been better since he was on the lead lap and racing for the win?
That might be the message NASCAR just sent, now what are the drivers supposed to think?
If NASCAR believes that the drivers should police themselves as long as it stays on the racetrack and not on pit road or in the pits but NASCAR needs to police "over the line" behavior, I think everyone would agree---------------but this penalty is far to harsh!!!!!
Huge letdown, but that's all NASCAR does nowadays. Brian France wrongly opened his mouth after Kansas, and put himself firmly in Joey's corner. I could see Kenseth feeling insulted by Joey on the track, and Brian France off the track after that mess.
ReplyDeleteThey did nothing to Harvick for wiping out half the field at 'Dega to "alter" the outcome of the chase. Then when all the foolishness comes to a crescendo at Martinsville, NASCAR takes the lead as "BIGGEST FOOL OF ALL".
Now they don't want drivers wrecking guys out of wins?!
I look forward to the day when I go on the internet and read the story about how NASCAR went the way of the CART series because of idiot leadership. With a huge picture of Brian France to accompany it.
NASCAR stated it as plain as they could. You can ambush any other car so long as they are not the lead car or a chase car. What a joke! Love NASCAR racing but hate the politics.
ReplyDeleteBull
ReplyDeleteNASCAR made it easy for me today. I've been a huge fan for over 50 years. Started pulling for fireball Roberts as a 6 year old listening to am radio while fishing with dad. Now I have 3 races left to cheer the best driver ever. And then Gordon retires as driver and I retire from being a fan. The NASCAR of Brian France is not my NASCAR. Ray horner of Morristown sadly says goodbye and thanks all the drivers that gave me such pleasure for 5 decades. Fireball, Bobby Allison, good ol D.W., Jeff Gordon.
ReplyDeleteNascar should have fined Kenseth and docked him and the team points and then made a rule defining what type of penalty would be imposed for this type of retaliation in the future. The penalty issued to Kenseth is not consistent with how they have handled these types of issues in the past.
ReplyDeleteDave, with regards to the Kansas incident. I have heard no comment about the 2009 Coke Zero 400 in which (Tony) Stewart took out (Kyle) Busch for the win after Busch had blocked him once. I didn't hear fans slamming Tony Stewart. Matt Kenseth blocked Logano two to three times and everybody jumps on Logano for taking Kenseth out for the win. I heard two people (Kyle Petty and Tony Stewart) say that evening, during the Stewart/Busch incident, block me once fine, block me again, ...oh well watch the video on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteThere is one person I would love to hear comment about all of this, and that is Kasey Kane. How many times has Kasey been wrecked by JGR drivers over the last few years? Did Kasey go back and wreck one of the JGR drivers in retaliation every time or at all? When Carl Edwards almost wrecked him earlier this year Kasey let him know but he didn't dump him and Carl was quickly to apologize after that incident. I really like Matt Kenseth but I can't back him on this one, Kenseth would have done the same to Logano if the roles were reversed in which you and others have commented already.
I also have heard people commenting about not liking the current Chase format, which is fine. Myself, as a fan, I like it. I was tiring of drivers racing for a good points day during the whole season. It has made most all of the races more exciting and especially the last few races of the season. Who wants to watch or go to a race knowing a driver doesn't have to start, or just start a race, or come in 41st place to get the championship?
I think Nascar should have fined Kenseth and docked him and the team points. The penalty issued to Kenseth is inconsistent with the penalties issued for these type of issues in the past few years. Nascar should make a clear cut rule effective from this point on explaining what the penalty will be for this type of retaliation.
ReplyDeleteVery disappointed with the decision. If Brian France & NASCAR finally decided the "Boy's, have at it" guidelines were no longer adequate they should have drawn a line in the sand today and outlined what the expectations from this point on. Matt Kenseth is one of the true gentlemen and competitors of the sport. The lack of defined leadership from NASCAR following the Kansas race more than helped to contribute to situation. Ricky Craven said it best in his commentary following the suspension announcement and the NASCAR governing body should seriously consider his remarks.
ReplyDeletethoughts
I think Nascar got this one right. Before I share my logic on this, I'd like to point out that I'm tired of hearing about "driver code". My logic is this..."driver code" is hurting the sport. In my opinion, it takes away from good, hard racing. (With that said, so does too much down force, but that's a subject for another day). I feel "driver code" prevents drivers from going for it. I have heard the reactions of drivers such as Ricky Craven and Jeff Gordon. They feel Logano crossed the line of "driver code" by not cutting Kenseth slack in Kansas. They feel Kenseth was justified for his actions at Martinsville. In my opinion, this type of "driver code" attitude results in an end result of drivers not going for it, which results in less interesting racing...which results in lower fan counts. In my opinion, Nascar is pushing drivers to get out of their comfort zone and out of their "driver code" atmosphere. In order to do this, they HAD to do something about Kenseth. In my opinion, they should have parked Gordon for last race of 2012. Funny how Gordon runs all over the likes of Rusty Wallace back in the day and calls it good, hard racing, but feels justified when the likes of a Clint Bowyer drive Jeff in the same manner. Where is the logic??? I hope that for the good of the sport, the message is sent that fans want good, hard racing. For that reason, I am glad Kenseth is forced to sit for a season. If Kenseth does not like good, hard racing, perhaps he should consider racing in another discipline of racing. For me, Kenseth could have gotten proper retribution by coming back and racing the 22 hard. But to completely wipe out the 22 while 9 laps down was not the answer. In the same respect, Gordon was neither justified for his actions in 2012 at Phoenix. Nascar, and in my opinion, it's fans, myself included, want better racing. If correcting the status quo of "driver code" is what it takes to get there, so be it.
ReplyDeleteMost consistent at being inconsistent (FACT)
ReplyDeleteI hope everybody realizes what NASCAR just did! They have just scared every driver away from retaliating against the #4! So, here's to a repeat champion in 2015! Kevin Harvick will be a two time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion in 4 more races! Mike Helton and his cronies get to enjoy all that Hendricks money for another year!
ReplyDeleteMy first thought when I saw Logano dump Kenseth at Kansas was, "Well he won that battle, but he may have just lost the war." Make no mistake, in my opinion Joey intentionally spun Matt. Week after week we watch these drivers do incredible things with these cars. You don't recover from getting pinched into the wall, then drive in a straight line into somebody's left rear, knowing full well that a spin will result, on accident. These guys are just too good to do that. There was no universal outcry of dirty driving, only that Martinsville could be really interesting.
ReplyDeleteWell as could be expected, Matt returned the 'favor' at Martinsville. Immediately there was a cry for punishment. The talking heads went nuts. Listening to them you would have thought that any punishment less than the guillotine was too kind. Some of the worse were some of the former drivers and a former crew chief on NBC. In my opinion, they were pompous asses about the whole situation.
Now that the penalty has been handed down, I have one question: why? Do the Chase drivers need special protection from non-Chasers? They didn't in 2012 when Jeff Gordon took out Clint Bowyer at Phoenix. If a Chase driver can't stomach the thought of a non-Chase driver racing them hard, maybe they should consider go carts.
Well then,maybe what Kenseth did was just too dangerous? NASCAR didn't think it was too dangerous when Edwards put Keselowoski on his lid at 185 mph in 2010 at Atlanta. I would have thought that had a much high potential for disaster than putting some one in the fence at 85 mph at Martinsville.
I find some of the comments coming from the garage interesting. From Junior, immediately after the race, saying that Logano had been "arrogant' about the whole Kansas deal, to other drivers talking about Logano breaking the "Drivers Code."
NASCAR, with their television marking of future races, like to use film clips of some of the antics that have happened on track and in the pits in previous Chase seasons. Now that they have decreed that such activities are taboo and verboten, will they now change the way they promote themselves?
All in all, I think NASCAR stepped in it with this punishment. Sure, huge fine and big points loss, after all Kenseth did drive Joey all the way into the wall, but there was no need for suspension. I would be very surprised if they ever have another on track incident. My biggest fear is that we have seen the death of "Boys Have At It,' and will now usher in the era of "Milk Toast Drivers."
Rick in Indiana
I agree that something had to be done but not for the reasons NASCAR is apparently going after. This would most likely not have happened in the first place if the governing body stepped in after the incident in Kansas. Instead- they squeezed the feud for every bit of juice they could in social media- knowing darn well that there would be some sort of retribution. And if it boosted ratings and viewership in the meantime- so be it.
ReplyDeleteI laugh when I read the statement- “Additionally, we factored aspects of safety into our decision, and also the fact that the new Chase elimination format puts a premium on each and every race. These actions have no place in NASCAR.” So wouldn't what Harvick appeared to do at Talladega or what Logano did at Kansas factor into their concerns safety or significantly alter the outcome of a Chase format race that has such a large premium put against it?
NASCAR let it go too far so I understand they had to react in some way...I just don't agree with how it's been handled. Now that the precedent has been set, with what they did to Danica's team as well, I only expect that anyone who appears to intentionally wreck another driver will be handled in the same manner going forward. Unfortunately, with NASCAR's inconsistent track record, I doubt it will happen.