Matt Kenseth's reaction to NASCAR penalties: 'Grossly unfair'

   NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Matt Kenseth took questions on Thursday at Richmond International Raceway prior to participating in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown charity race.

   He was asked several questions about the unprecedented penalties NASCAR levied on his No. 20 Toyota team on Wednesday:

   Q: What was your reaction to the penalties NASCAR announced yesterday?  Do you think they were severe?
   Kenseth: "I think the penalties are grossly unfair. I think it's borderline shameful. There's no argument the part was wrong. They weighed it and it was wrong. However, there is an argument that there certainly was no performance advantage. If you can find any unbiased, reputable, knowledgeable engine-builder and if they saw the facts, what all the rods weighed. The average weight of all the rods was well above the minimum -- 2.5 (grams) above the minimum at least. There was one in there that was way heavy. There was no performance advantage, there was no intent, it was a mistake. JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) had no control over it. Certainly to crush Joe Gibbs like that -- to say they can't win an owner's championship with the 20 this year is just, I can't wrap my arms around that, it just blows me away. And the same with Jason Ratcliff (crew chief).  I don't feel bad for myself at all, but for Jason and Joe, I just couldn't feel any worse. There's no more reputable, honest hard-working guys with good reputations more so than those two -- I feel really bad for them."

   Q: What affects you the most about the penalties - losing points or damaging your reputation?
   Kenseth: "It's not really about me at all, honestly. I think that certainly, you know it depends, everybody is going to look at it different. You're going to get people that know absolutely nothing about the whole situation and kind of cheer or whatever - I can take all that fan backlash - it doesn't honestly bother me really in the slightest. I feel bad for Joe (Gibbs, owner) and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) the most and our partners as well. Even taking away the pole eligibility and all that stuff. Anybody in the garage, and like I said, any knowledgeable, reputable unbiased engine builder -- they know there was no advantage there. There was probably a disadvantage there if nothing else for the stuff being unbalanced. I don't argue, there was a scale and it says it has to weigh 225 grams and if it weighs 224.99, it's illegal. I don't think any of us have any
argument about that. I just think the penalty is way over the top for that. It wasn't anything trying to gain an advantage. It wasn't an advantage and it was a mistake. I think that should have been taken into account."

   Q: How do you overcome the penalties and move forward?
   Kenseth: "Well, I don't think there's any more we can do. I think my team has done an incredible job this year as far as performance. We've ran better than I could have ever dreamed. We don't have all the finishes, but yet we do have two wins. I think it's
business as usual. I think we have to -- probably when I walk out of here in 15 minutes or whatever -- pretty much put it behind us and hope the appeals process works and we get some people in there to look at everything that are reasonable and hopefully get the penalties at least reduced some. I think other than that, we put it behind us. Business as usual. I get to work with Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) this weekend and go out and try to win a pole and try to win the race and just go with that attitude every week and just try to do the things we know how to do and keep trying to grow as a race team, and try to get better."

Matt Kenseth/Joe Gibbs Racing hit with unprecedented NASCAR penalty

Driver loses 50 championship points; crew chief fined $200,000, suspended six races

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Penalties have been handed down to the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team as a result of rule violations discovered in the post-race engine inspection April 23 at the NASCAR Research and Development Center.
 

The No. 20 car was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.5.3 (E) (Only magnetic steel connecting rods with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted; connecting rod failed to meet the minimum connecting rod weight) of the 2013 rule book.

As a result of this violation, NASCAR has assessed the following penalties:

• Crew chief Jason Ratcliff has been fined $200,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (a period of time that also includes the non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race).

• Car owner Joe Gibbs has lost 50 championship car owner points; the first-place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate car owner points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited toward the eligibility for a car owner Wild Card position; has had the owner’s license for the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car suspended until the completion of the next six championship points events, therefore being ineligible to receive championship car owner points during that period of time.

• Driver Matt Kenseth has lost 50 championship driver points; the Coors Light Pole award from April 19 at Kansas Speedway will not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited; the first-place finish from April 21 at Kansas Speedway will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate driver points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited toward the eligibility for a driver Wild Card position.

• The loss of five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer Championship points.

NASCAR hits Truck series points leader with harsh penalty

 

   NASCAR on Wednesday hit Truck Series points leader Johnny Sauter with one of the series' harshest penalties after it found an altered fuel cell on his No. 98 Toyota last week at Kansas Speedway.

   Joe Shear, crew chief for Sauter's team, has been suspended for the next four races and fined $10,000. Shear was also placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. In addition, Sauter - who won the series' first two races of the season - was stripped of 25 points.

   Sauter, who was the points leader following last Saturday's race at Kansas, is now tied for second with Jeb Burton. Both drivers are 13 points behind new leader, Matt Crafton. Crafton is Sauter's teammate at ThorSport Racing. The No. 98 team was also docked 25 owner points.

Qualifying changes to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series road course events

   From NASCAR:

   NASCAR announced Monday that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will implement the group-based road course qualifying procedure used in NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Touring Series competition during its road-course events at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Under the new procedure, cars will qualify in groups instead of the traditional single-car qualifying runs held on oval race tracks.

 

   “The change will add an exciting element to road-course qualifying,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “Fans will be treated to new strategy and increased competition with several cars on track at once.”

   The new qualifying rules for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at road courses are as follows:

 · Cars attempting to qualify will be divided into groups. The number of groups, and amount of cars in each, will depend on the number of cars that practice for the event.

 · Group assignments will be based on final practice times.

 · Each qualifying group will be on-track for a set period of time, determined by the Series Director.

 · A car’s best lap time during the group session will be the qualifying lap time of record.

 · A group’s time begins when the first car receives the green flag at the start/finish line.

   “This is going to be a terrific new format for our NASCAR weekend,” said Steve Page, president and general manager of Sonoma Raceway. “It will intensify the action, with multiple cars on the track at the same time. It’s a very positive development for our fans.”

    "The new format of qualifying at Watkins Glen International enhances the fan experience which is our top priority,” said Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen. “Qualifying on Saturday for our Cheez-It^TM 355 at The Glen is even more of a not-to-be missed aspect of a weekend of high-quality racing.”

The new format will debut with the Toyota Save-Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 23 and will return at Watkins Glen for the Cheez-It^TM 355 at the Glen on August 11.

Have you heard "The Joey Logano Song?" Joey Logano has.

   Megan McCormick, a high school sophomore from Ohio, describes herself as a big stock-car racing fan, a girl who “enjoys the sound of roaring engines.”

    The 16-year-old’s favorite NASCAR driver is Joey Logano and Megan, a singer/songwriter penned "The Joey Logano Song," a sort of sappy, tongue-in-check teen love song.

    Check out the video.

    Also, check here to read the story from The Toledo Blade on Megan getting to meet her favorite driver.

Is solar power on NASCAR's radar? "Absolutely yes" says official

   Dr. Mike Lynch, NASCAR's Managing Director of Green Innovation, recently took part in a question and answer session with Fortune magazine about how NASCAR is "going green."

    During the interview, Lynch was asked about solar power:

    "Do you ever think that NASCAR could exist racing cars that are driven by solar?"

    Here was Lynch's answer:

    "Well, you know, then you're kind of getting into the concept of a very exotic sort of solar car or charging an electric car or plug-in hybrid batteries with solar power. Is that something that we have on our advanced concept radar screen? Is this something that we're actively analyzing? Is this something we're paying real professional attention to? The answer is absolutely yes," he said.

    "Just like with the introduction of Sunoco Green E15 and all the other things that we've been doing, we have - like any other organization - very long lead times of analysis and prudent consideration before we're going to pilot or introduce something, especially when you're talking about something in a core racing series."

    Go here to read the entire interview.

Shall we call this the "Danica Patrick Rule?"

   NASCAR has issued the following bulletin to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rule book, which makes an update to the section dealing with overall car weight.

    In Section 20-2.2, the rule book has added the following new or altered sections which became effective April 3:

    * The driver's weight will be measured by NASCAR Officials at one (1) or more date(s) and time(s) determined by NASCAR in its discretion. This weight may be added to the left side of the car.

    *The following is a schedule of overall car weight in relationship to the starting driver weight:

    DRIVER WEIGHT // OVERALL CAR WEIGHT
    180 lbs. - Above // 3,300 lbs.
    170 lbs. - 179 lbs. // 3,310 lbs.
    160 lbs. - 169 lbs. // 3,320 lbs.
    150 lbs. - 159 lbs. // 3,330 lbs.
    140 lbs. - 149 lbs. // 3,340 lbs.
    139 lbs. and under // 3,350 lbs.

    Previously, the rule book only addressed driver weight down to 140 pounds. The bulletin adds a new "139 lbs. and under" category. In effect, drivers under 140 pounds must now add an additional 10 pounds of weight to their car.

    In February, questions were raised if Danica Patrick could enjoy a weight advantage in her Cup car due to her low weight.

    To read what NASCAR officials said about it at the time, go here.