These last few weeks in NASCAR have been more about what’s happened off the track than what has happened on it. Â Coming out of Texas, it was Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, along with their teams, that got the boom lowered on them from NASCAR for having unapproved parts on their cars prior to action.
Then after last weekend, no less a victory, Matt Kenseth got an anvil dropped on his team after finding the winning engine that was in his car had a part that did not meet rule requirements. Â In essence, one single push rod in one of the cylinders for the motor was too light. Â NASCAR requires these parts to be of magnetic steel that weighs at least 525 grams. Â On average, the parts weighed about two grams over that requirement, but one was found to be lighter.
NASCAR penalized Kenseth 50 points, but then went a step farther. Â They took away his pole award for that race, making him ineligible for next year’s Sprint Unlimited, and also took away the win to be used for Chase seeding, whether it be in the top-10 or as a Wild Card.
His owner, Joe Gibbs, had his owner’s license for the No. 20 Toyota suspended for the next six points races, and also loses 50 owner points. Â Crew chief Jason Ratcliff is suspended for six weeks, and also must pay a $200,000 fine.
All the penalties are up for appeal, and in theory the team has a valid argument.
The reason, the engines they get for their cars are not built in-house. Â The engines come from Toyota Racing Development, so Joe Gibbs Racing will try to argue that the engines were not of their building, and the penalties should be reduced.
What is going to be difficult is trying to convince the appeals board that they were not trying to get a competitive advantage, because the engine was not of their building, nor do they work on them once they arrive. Â It’s pretty much a crate motor that’s ready to be bolted into the car the minute it arrives at the shop. Â So there is a possibility that the appeals board could reduce the penalties, but not take them away completely.
Now in the case of Keselowski and Logano, whose appeal will be heard this week, it’s going to be more difficult, because NASCAR saw the issue on their car, and made them change it. Â I don’t see those penalties getting overturned, nor reduced a whole lot.
One thing is for sure, NASCAR does not mess around with this new car in any aspect. Â The new Gen-6 car for this season is already setting a mark for being one that the sanctioning body will not tolerate having things out of sync.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the appeals work out. Â Let’s hope that after Richmond, where it was Kevin Harvick taking the win, that no one else gets caught by NASCAR trying to gain an unfair advantage.
RESULTS:  1-Harvick  2-Bowyer  3-Logano  4-Montoya  5-Burton  6-Edwards  7-Kenseth  8-Almirola  9-Kurt Busch  10-Earnhardt Jr.
NOTABLE FINISHES:  11-Gordon  12-Johnson  18-Stewart  21-Kahne  24-Kyle Busch  29-Patrick  33-Keselowski
CAUTIONS: Â 11 for 75 laps. Â Lap 42-46 (#33, 35 accident-T3), 111-115 (debris-T2), 147-153 (fluid-BS), 159-167 (#2 accident-T1), 233-239 (#16 spin-FS), 293-298 (#93 accident-T3), 309-320 (#93 fluid-T1), 328-333 (#14, 18, 48 accident-T2), 339-343 (#5, 11, 55 accident-BS), 346-349 (#56 spin-T3), 396-404 (#11 accident-T3).
LEAD CHANGES: Â 10 among 7 drivers. Â Kenseth 1-36, Bowyer 37-42, Kenseth 43-111, Bowyer 112-218, Kenseth 219-253, Kyle Busch 254-293, Kurt Busch 294-329, Montoya 330-396, Harvick 397, Burton 398-404, Harvick 405-406.
TIME OF RACE: Â 3 Hrs, 18 Mins, 17 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: Â 92.141 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Â 0.343 Seconds
POINTS: Â 1. Johnson, 343 points; 2. Edwards, -43; 3. Kahne, -46; 4. Earnhardt Jr, -46; 5. Bowyer, -53; 6. Keselowski, -56; 7. Kyle Busch, -65; 8. Biffle, -71; 9. Harvick, -72; 10. Menard, -72; 11. Almirola, -85; 12. McMurray, -98
