Kenseth found it unusual NASCAR did not sit the drivers down, and said he felt he had no choice but to retaliate or risk losing respect in the garage area.
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Kenseth told the AP it wasn’t just how Logano raced him at Kansas, but how the Team Penske driver conducted himself afterward and could have rectified the situation before Martinsville. That remark further irked Kenseth, who felt the sport’s top executive was promoting that kind of driving. “In fact, I think he got out lucky with two races instead of three”. Both Kenseth and Logano have been eliminated from playoff contention.
NASCAR chairman Brian France requested a Monday meeting with Matt Kenseth before the suspended driver returns to racing in the season finale. In part because he failed to win, Kenseth was dropped from the Chase in the Round 2 elimination race the following week at Talladega Superspeedway.
In an interview last week, Kenseth stood by his actions and said he felt encouraged to retaliate because France praised Logano’s actions at Kansas as “quintessential NASCAR”. Jeff Gordon is the only driver locked into the final four.
“It’s not going to change how I race, I’m going to be more fired up, probably less tolerant, and I’m planning on from here on out being a lot more aggressive”, Kenseth said. “I do not ever remember yet one or two occasions when in that happened – where somebody deliberately took someone out”, the seven-time champion stated Sat.at Phoenix worldwide Raceway.
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“If it’s Joey or Brad or whoever the guy is in that spot, they need to think about that before they lift your rear tires off the ground at 200 miles per hour and take you out”, he said.
