Citing Sport’s Integrity, Nascar Adds Gordon as 13th Chase Driver
By VIV BERNSTEIN
Cheating accusations, an unprecedented penalty to a race team and a reshuffling of the field for Nascar’s Sprint Cup playoff turned the past week into one of the most bizarre in the sport’s history.
And that was before Friday, when Nascar added Jeff Gordon to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship two days before the playoff was to begin at Chicagoland Speedway. Three teams may have manipulated the finish at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 7, the final race of the regular season, and Gordon appeared to be a victim.
“There were too many things that altered the event and gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff,” said Brian France, the Nascar chairman, in announcing the decision to add a 13th car to the Chase. “We believe this was the right outcome to protect the integrity, which is our No. 1 goal, of Nascar.”
Gordon said he was “very thankful to be in.” He added, “And I know it’s under the most unbelievable circumstances I’ve ever been a part of in my racing career.”
Gordon wrote on Twitter: “Wow, we just gained 1250 points!”
With seven laps left at Richmond and Ryan Newman on his way to a victory that would have qualified him for the playoff, Clint Bowyer’s car inexplicably spun and caused a caution.
Newman wound up third and out of the playoff field. The spin also affected Gordon, who would have made the Chase in the 10th spot in points but ultimately finished 11th.
After the spin, Bowyer and his teammate Brian Vickers made unusual pit stops in the closing laps, allowing Joey Logano to pass them. That helped Logano finish 10th in the standings and automatically qualify for the playoff.
Logano’s move up in the standings bumped Gordon out of the field and allowed a teammate, Martin Truex Jr., to clinch the final wild-card playoff berth.
On Monday, Nascar fined Michael Waltrip Racing $300,000 and penalized Bowyer and two other drivers 50 points. That took Truex out of the playoff field and gave the berth to Newman.
“Do I think it’s fair?” Truex said Friday. “You know, I don’t know. I don’t run the sport, so we’ll just have to deal with it.”
An Associated Press review of communications during the Richmond race determined that there was collusion between Logano’s Penske Racing team and Front Row Motorsports to allow Logano to pass David Gilliland and gain another point.
It was that report that led Nascar to revisit the Richmond finish and add Gordon to the Chase. Nascar officials made clear they did not believe that Logano worked with Gilliland, only that their teams discussed it. Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports were placed on probation for the rest of the season.
AI
