During Saturday’s final practice session, Joey Logano was ineligible to participate after the No. 22 Ford couldn’t pass pre-qualifying inspection. The Team Penske operation tried and failed four times on Friday, meaning Logano will start shotgun on the field.
That meant the two-time New Hampshire Motor Speedway winner was forced to sit in his No. 22 car for the entire 50-minute session, watching everyone else participate and make their cars better.
That left last year’s runner-up for the series championship frustrated. After the session, he spoke out about NASCAR’s push for more penalties this year.
“I had time for a lot of thoughts in there, mainly that it’s a total joke,” Logano said of the ruling. “I don’t know why [the car] has to be out on pit road. A penalty is a penalty. That’s fine, but there’s no reason to sit out there. I think it’s dumb, but that’s coming from a guy that just sat in a car for an hour sweating. That may not be the best thing to say, but it’s true.”
This season, NASCAR has upped the ante and dropped the hammer on teams who fail inspection throughout the weekend. During final practice, Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Matt DiBenedetto, David Ragan and Jimmie Johnson all were docked 15 minutes.
Jamie McMurray, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, and Martin Truex Jr. were all penalized for a half-hour. But Logano is the first driver to not be able to participate in an entire practice due to an inspection issue.
“I think it makes our sport look dumb,” Logano said. “I do. Like I said, it’s kind of a joke. I don’t get it, personally. I think we can accomplish the same thing in a more professional manner.”
During the session, Logano was able to shake fan’s hands and even got a visit from wife Brittany. With the window net up, she put her hand through it, a gesture which also caused the driver to quip, “[It was] like I was in jail.”
However, for this team there may be a silver lining. Starting from 39th is exactly what Kyle Larson did in July and had one of the drives of the year, reaching the top five by the end of the opening stage. In the end, the No. 42 Chevy finished runner up to Denny Hamlin. Logano hopes to have the same fate, climbing just one position higher on Sunday to Victory Lane.
NASCAR declined to comment on why Logano failed inspection four times.
About the author
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
It is dumb. But that is NASCAR. He had a funny TWITTER pic with him and Brittany holding hands thru the net with the title “Family Visitation”. Lol. The penalty making him sit in the car on pit road for the whole practice was insanely immature and vindictive on NASCARS part. Does NASTYCAR think humiliation will work? How old is the governing body of this sport? They would not DARE do that to a TOYS! I would have walked away. The whole thing is weird and getting weirder by the week! ROGER PENSKE WHERE ARE YOU???????????????????????????????
Maybe they should think about that before they present a car that won’t pass inspection on multiple occassions, wasting everybody’s time.
Sure punish away, but NASCAR botched this one big time.
The “punishment” was incredibly juvenile, way too personal and a tad sadistic, imo. Track temps were well over 90 degrees and he was made to sit there for almost an hour in full gear. I don’t seem them trying that garbage with another driver from a favored manufacturer, or a more “feisty” driver. Has this really worked with toddlers to learn from it for “NEXT TIME”?
If the geniuses at Castle Daytona consulted JO FROST SUPER NANNY, I think she would have told them with holding the ice cream after dinner and straight to bed after bath time would have a had a much more effective outcome. What the hell is wrong with NASCAR, are they nuts? That was way too personal, in a most childish way, imo. It is what it is, but I found it very bizarre and again a tad sadistic and very childish.
Seeing they basically paid for their sins by losing qualifying time and parked the whole practice session. They paid. Having him suit up (after the other two realities hit home) and have him like a two year old sit on pit road watching. That was a line they should not have crossed. Again seems very personal, vindictive and perverted. Is that how a company wants to run it’s business? Hopefully people are taking notice (as they should have been for years) at the leadership (or lack of) with this regime of idiots ruining a billion dollar industry. This crap does not help, especially when they pull this crap out of the butt, and are incredibility selective and hypocritical in their dealings with drivers and teams.
LOOKS LIKE NASCAR IS SHOWING THEIR IQ AGAIN
THAT IS PART OF THE REASON WE DONT GO OR WATCH ANYMORE
THAT IS WHY SPONSORS ARE LEAVING IN DROVES
I’m no Nascar fan, as an organization I think they suck, but it’s Nascar’s rules, if you don’t like them go elsewhere. Given the record the 22 has this year with tech it’s no wonder Nascar lowered the boom.
And for all the ignorati out there, drivers have body cooling and helmet ventilation, he would have had his plugged in and the system operating, there’s 2 batteries in a Cup car and that would keep things going for 50 minutes easily. If there was a real risk to his health I doubt Nascar would have done that. They typically see temps of 130F plus during a race, so 80F is minimal.
All that aside, the driver has nothing to do with the car passing tech, so why don’t they make the crew chief and crew sit out there in it? It’s their deal, punish them, not the driver.
The solution is simple. Eliminate pre-race inspections. Unload the car, practice, qualify and run the race. Inspect the cars in order of finish. If a car fails for ANY reason, whether it’s a loose lug nut or oversized engine, it’s disqualified with no points and no money. The fine is double what the earnings would have been and double the points it would have earned. The first car to pass inspection wins. Inspect ALL the cars and the finishing order depends on the order of the cars that pass inspection. How long do you think it would take for all the cars to pass inspection? Slaps on the wrist and saying, “Please don’t do that again” aren’t doing any good.