Swift Action by NASCAR Puts Ryan Newman in The Chase
The decision was unexpected even to the beat reporters who follow NASCAR daily. After Saturday’s race, thing just didn’t look right, something officials missed. By Sunday at the truck race in Iola, Mike Helton, NASCAR’s President, commented that NASCAR was going to review the race and radio transmissions. That was the first clue that something was up. A timeline was not given, however.
Apparently, officials met most of the day, listening to radio transmissions (first brought to light by ESPN) and race tapes along with official race telemetry. I have to assume the decision was that there had to be something wrong.
To refresh your memory, late in the race at Richmond International Raceway, the race that would determine the Chase, a lot of things happened that changed the lineup for the Chase, or what it looked like at the time. With eight laps to go, Clint Bowyer, of Michael Waltrip Racing spun his car for no apparent reason. That brought out a caution when Ryan Newman was leading and apparently on his way to a win and a spot in the Chase. On the ensuing pit stops, Newman got shuffled back. In the meantime, Ty Norris called teammates Bowyer and Brian Vickers into the pits just as the green flag was waving. The result was that their other teammate, Martin Truex, Jr., ended up making the playoffs. Code-filled radio transmissions between the teams made things look very suspicious. It also allowed Joey Logano to make the field and shut out Jeff Gordon.
The meeting resulted in a change, and some would say a just verdict. All three MWR teams were docked 50 points, Ty Norris was suspended indefinitely from participating, and a $300,000 fine. Newman was placed in the Chase in place of Truex. Justice was served except for one tiny matter. What about Bowyer’s punishment? A spin is a spin, and determining if a driver spins out on purpose is nearly impossible. Why didn’t Gordon replace Bowyer? As it is NASCAR’s practice, the point penalties took place in the regular season standings. The 50 points didn’t hurt Bowyer’s place in the Chase, only his seeding. NASCAR was obviously punishing MWR and not the drivers.
This writer is glad NASCAR took a stand in this matter, but I’m totally surprised this hasn’t happened before. When you have a system that leads to one race where multi-car teams have a driver or two close to qualifying, this is bound to happen sooner or later. I’d say NASCAR is lucky it hasn’t happened before. NASCAR and the media push the Chase from the Daytona 500 in February until Chicago in September, and it has become very lucrative financially to teams, mainly because sponsors want their car in the Chase.
So, as it now stands, put Ryan Newman in the Chase and Martin Truex, Jr. on the sidelines. I’m still shaking my head at the events of Saturday night, but I’m glad it was handled swiftly by the sanctioning body.
Michael Waltrip Racing will not appeal penalties handed down by NASCAR
Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway turned into one of the most controversial races in the history of the sport. Fan response to Clint Bowyer’s well-timed and seemingly intentional spin that brought out a late race caution, coupled with an un-needed trip down pit road by Brian Vickers was unprecedented.
Many fans were screaming for NASCAR to do something about what appeared to be an engineered plan from Michael Waltrip Racing to manipulate the outcome of the race to secure a spot in the Chase for team driver, Martin Truex Jr.
Evidently, NASCAR knew their integrity was on the line as they handed down the most severe penalty ever handed out by the sanctioning body.
The penalties included -$300,000 fine levied against the team, 50 owner and driver points deduction for each of the teams three cars (No. 15, 55, 56) and an indefinite suspension for General Manager, Ty Norris, who also serves as the spotter for Brian Vickers No. 55 car.
The points deductions were assessed to the standings retroactively, before the re-seeding for the Chase. The results of those penalties were that MWR driver, Martin Truex Jr., who benefited the most from the incident, was bumped out of the Chase, and Stewart-Hass driver, Ryan Newman, was locked in to the final wildcard spot. Newman seemed to be well on his way to winning the race and securing a spot in the Chase before the caution came out.
The penalties seemed to have been well thought out by NASCAR. The sanctioning body absolutely had to come out strong on this, as the integrity of the sport was being called into questions. Media outlets that usually do not cover the sport, were focusing attention on the issue. Additionally, social media was on fire with criticism of the sports rule makers.
The team released a statement on Monday night shortly after the penalties were announced. From team owner, Michael Waltrip – “What occurred on the No. 55 radio at the end of Saturday night’s race in Richmond was a split-second decision made by team spotter Ty Norris to bring the No. 55 to pit lane and help a teammate earn a place in the Chase. We regret the decision and its impact. We apologize to NASCAR, our fellow competitors, partners and fans who were disappointed in our actions. We will learn from this and move on. As general manager, Ty Norris has been an integral part of Michael Waltrip Racing since its founding and has my and (co-owner) Rob Kauffman’s full support.”
It should be noted that the statement does not address the spin by driver Clint Bowyer because NASCAR stated there was not conclusive evidence that the spin was intentional. The Bowyer spin was more publicized than the Vickers incident due to the fact that it actually brought out the caution. Listening to the radio conversation for Bowyer, he was never actually instructed to spin the car. Therefore, NASCAR could not fairly implement sanctions for that action, even though the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.
During the radio conversation between Vickers and Norris, it was actually stated that Brian needed to pit to allow Truex to gain a point. After the instruction, there was then an attempt to fabricate a cover story for the action. NASCAR was able to penalize for this because there was no question to intent.
By not appealing the penalty, MWR is taking responsibility for their actions. Hopefully, they will learn from this mistake and the severity of the penalty will send a message to other teams to not attempt such actions in the future. Only time will tell how long it will take the team to gain back the respect of the fans, fellow competitors, and the sanctioning body.
NASCAR Drops Penalty Hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing; Newman Heads to Chase
In an unprecedented Monday evening news conference after the wild Richmond race on Saturday night, NASCAR dropped the penalty hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing.
“Based upon our review of Saturday night’s race at Richmond, it is our determination that the MWR organization attempted to manipulate the outcome of the race,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “As the sport’s sanctioning body, it is our responsibility to ensure there is a fair and level playing field for all of our competitors and this action today reflects our commitment to that.”
Although NASCAR could not determine if the late race spin by MWR driver Clint Bowyer was intentional, that combined with the unusual pitting by MWR teammate Brian Vickers, which was documented on the radio transmissions between him and spotterTy Norris, added up to what the sanctioning body considered a violation of Section 12-4, Actions detrimental to stock car racing.
As a result, NASCAR levied the following penalties:
*The three MWR teams, including the No. 15 of Clint Bowyer, the No. 55 of Brian Vickers, and the No. 56 of Martin Truex Jr. were penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver and 50 championship owner points, respectively.
*NASCAR also fined MWR $300,000, the largest fine that the sanctioning body has ever levied.
*Ty Norris, the Executive Vice President & General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing and the spotter for Brian Vickers, has been suspended indefinitely from the sport.
*The three crew chiefs, Brian Pattie on the No. 15, Scott Miller on the No. 55 and Chad Johnston on the No. 56 car have also been placed on probation until the season end.
The controversy started after in-car audio and video revealed what appeared to be some sort of exchange in code between Bowyer and his team, leading to a late race spin and caution that changed the entire complexion of the finishing order and the Chase setting.
“(Newman) is going to win the race,’’ spotter Brett Griffin told Bowyer in audio first aired by ESPN.
About 30 seconds later, crew chief Brian Pattie asked Bowyer if his arm was hurting and if it was “hot in there” and then was told to “Itch it.” Shortly after that, Bowyer seemed to have jerked the wheel, sending his No. 15 5-Hour Energy spinning and his teammate Martin Truex Jr. into Chase contention.
Even Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was right behind Bowyer, commented after the race that the spin was suspicious.
“He just spun right out,” Junior said. “That’s the craziest thing I ever saw.”
“He just came right around,” Junior continued. “We were going into (Turns) 3 and 4 … he was hemming around on the brakes and jerking the car around, and then the thing just spun out.”
“It was crazy.”
Because of the point penalties, which were assessed following the Richmond race and not after the Chase seeding, the point total for the No. 56 car piloted by Truex Jr. was reduced to 691, eliminating him from the second Wild Card berth.
This change, which put Truex Jr. in 17th position in points, moved Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 car for Stewart-Haas Racing, up into the Chase field.
“Obviously, we’re very pleased with NASCAR’s decision to provide Ryan Newman’s rightful place in this year’s Chase,” Tony Stewart, Co-Owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, said. “NASCAR was put in a very difficult position Saturday night at Richmond and we commend the sanctioning body for taking the time to do the necessary due diligence to ensure that the right call was made.”
“I am proud that NASCAR took a stand with respect to what went on Saturday night at Richmond,” Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet, said. “I know it was a tough decision to make.”
“With that being said, myself, Matt Borland (crew chief) and this entire No. 39 team are looking forward to competing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.”
As with any penalty, Michael Waltrip Racing can appeal, however, that still will not re-instate Martin Truex Jr. back into Chase contention. Shortly after the penalties were announced, MWR advised that they would not be appealing the decision.
“What occurred on the No. 55 radio at the end of Saturday night’s race in Richmond was a split-second decision made by team spotter Ty Norris to bring the No. 55 to pit lane and help a teammate earn a place in the Chase,” a statement from Michael Waltrip Racing read. “We regret the decision and its impact.”
“We apologize to NASCAR, our fellow competitors, partners and fans who were disappointed in our actions,” the MWR statement continued. “We will learn from this and move on.”
“As general manager, Ty Norris has been an integral part of Michael Waltrip Racing since its founding and has my and (co-owner) Rob Kauffman’s full support.”
