Martin Truex Jr. will not be in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase this season. NASCAR made the decision to penalize the No. 56 car after questionable activities from Richmond.
Enter Ryan Newman.
Then radio communication between David Gilliland and his spotter suggested that Penske Racing may had been working on a deal with Front Row Racing to allow Joey Logano to gain a position and make the Chase via the top ten rule. That move would allow Logano to have three bonus points entering the Chase.
On Friday NASCAR ruled that they had no idea what to do and were allowing Jeff Gordon into the Chase. There was no penalty to Logano because any penalty to the No. 22 car would have knocked him out of the top ten and in essence knocked Newman out of a wild card spot.
So instead of 12 drivers in the playoffs NASCAR allowed 13.
Another rule change but then again NASCAR has a long history of writing its rules with pencil.
Though all this the biggest loser has been Martin Truex Jr. He will continue to be the biggest loser as NASCAR has allowed Gordon and Newman into the Chase while Truex gets a 10 race penalty and gets to watch them run for a title.
NASCAR based its reason to kick Truex Jr. out of the Chase largely on the scanner chatter and questionable pit stop of teammate Brian Vickers. (As if giving up a spot on the track to a teammate never happens.)
Yet with a near identical situation, NASCAR opted to do nothing when it came to the chatter of Gilliland and his spotter. No penalties, just probation.
Confused? I sure am.
