In a pre-race interview the following week at Talledega, Kenseth said that Logano “should have stopped running his mouth, A, and No. 2, he’s lying when he said he didn’t do it on objective”. “Just a complete coward”. I know Matt – and this doesn’t say anything about what kind of person, whether he is a good or bad person. Sunday’s win at Martinsville was probably the culmination of his driving bucket list by winning at least once in his final season behind the wheel. The collision carried both cars into the Turn 1 wall, severely damaging both and ending their races.
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Fast facts: NASCAR suspended Kenseth for two races and placed him on probation for six months. NASCAR will make this stick, and it’s surprising they didn’t suspend him for the season’s final three races, considering Kenseth may still be holding a grudge at Homestead when all the marbles are at stake if Logano does advance in the Chase.
Matt Kenseth is appealing his two-race suspension Thursday, but NASCAR apparently will contend he altered the outcome of a race by intentionally wrecking Joey Logano. “It’s been established since racing began 100 years ago, (but) that driver code is more compromised now than ever”.
Kenseth passed on a chance to knock Logano out of his way earlier Sunday, but he finally snapped after he was wrecked while racing Logano and his Penske teammate Brad Keselowski for position. Kenseth was eliminated from the Chase and out of contention in the race – nine laps off the lead – when he hit Logano, who was leading, and harmed his try for a championship.
The statement later adds, “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”, O’Donnell was quoted by Fox Sports as saying. Either way, all I know is I hope Kenseth isn’t suspended because usually when you want to avoid another driver that’s when you end up around them the most. Now it was very unfortunate with the circumstances Matt got dealt on that particular day because he needed to win, he was trying move on in the round, we understand that. “And we’ll be dealing with that”. So Sunday, Kenseth slowed his damaged auto on the track and waited for Logano to catch him.
“I’ll be honest, me and Bowyer haven’t had any more problems since”.
“That’s how I look at it. I feel like someday maybe down the road there may be a story written or a movie done about this year for me”. They’re going to come down hard, and that’s the message they sent today. Kenseth blocked Logano several times in an effort to stave off a pass for the win, and Logano finally just moved Kenseth out of his way.
The punishment, which was announced Tuesday evening, came after Kenseth wrecked Logano with 47 laps remaining in the race. What part of falling 42 laps down as a result of said “junking” doesn’t adhere to the definition of “taken out”. “He ran me hard, and I ran him hard back”.
“I think it’s “BS.’ “They better – I say ‘They better”, but they don’t have to listen to me for squat”. It’s a tough sport, a few days you’re the bat and a few days you’re the ball.
NASCAR summoned Kenseth, crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs after the race. JGR released a statement that it would appeal the penalty as being too harsh and inconsistent with past penalties for retaliation, which have been points and fines when done under green-flag conditions.
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NASCAR said it would not delay the imposition of the suspension to allow the appeal to take place, but that it would expedite the appeals process. The Camping World Truck Series regular made his Sprint Cup début earlier this year when he briefly sat in for an injured Kyle Busch.
