Kenseth gets thrown under the bus; Danica gets spanked

[ranbethscards]

Okay.. now that I got everyone's attention with the "Danica gets spanked"...

First, let's talk about Danica and get her punishment out of the way. $50K and 25 points. Yeah, okay... that's about what the usual penalty is when you purposely crash someone... and continue to run into them afterwards.

Second... NASCAR has once again decided to NOT follow it's own rules and just throw a punishment out there for what everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, knew was going to happen after Logano took Kenseth out of the race a couple weeks ago. Kenseth was leading the race. Logano already had a win and was assured a spot in the Chase.

Ricky Craven, ESPN, said tonight that NASCAR has lost control. And he is right!

You tell the drivers to "have at it boys..." and then decide NOT to allow it during retaliation.

Joe Gibbs Racing is going to appeal. A quote from Joe Gibbs Racing FB Page:

The appeal will challenge the severity of the penalty which is believed to be inconsistent with previous penalties for similar on-track incidents.

NOT a fan of Kenseth, but I have to say... as has Gordon, Dale Jr and Kyle Busch... Kenseth did the payback for something that NASCAR didn't take action on.

Sad thing is... much like in Football or Hockey... the player that throws the first punch rarely gets penalized... its the guy who retaliates that gets thrown out of the game.

oh....by-the-way... NOTHING was done about Logano's comments after the race about "I will fight!"... oh oh... I don't see this being over anytime soon.

 

[ranbethscards]

No big surprise that the review committee upheld NASCARs decision. In three weeks Matt will be back. Heaven protect anyone that bumps him during the race!

 

[NorthKorea]

Kenseth is LUCKY the suspension was only two races. Logano was being blocked by Kenseth, and Logano ended up spinning Kenseth. That's a part of racing in NASCAR: Kenseth chose to defend with Logano on his bumper and got spun. Logano took the lead from Kenseth and won the race.

By contrast, Kenseth did what would be the NASCAR equivalent of "spearing" in American football, "boarding" in hockey or intentionally running or sliding at the second baseman after you've already been forced out at second.

Kenseth was LAPPED by Logano and responded by accelerating into Logano's car and crushing him against the barricade that protects fans. He was completely out of contention in the race and ended up costing Logano not simply the race but also a spot in the final four Chase for the Cup.

This not only speaks volumes about Kenseth's integrity and psychological make-up, but also makes one question the format that NASCAR chose for its "playoff" system. What kind of a playoff involves elimination of participants, yet allows them to continue participating after being eliminated? I understand the concept of a points-based championship. I understand the concept of an elimination-based playoff championship.

I absolutely, for the life of me, cannot understand a points-based playoff-system championship where the points leader (Joey Logano) is eliminated from the playoffs by a participant (Matt Kenseth) who was already eliminated from the playoffs.

This feels like Angola's center deciding to break Michael Jordan's leg after being down by 40 points.

 

[ranbethscards]

Kenseth was eliminated by Logano... and nothing was done to him.

NASCAR has their favorites ... use to be Jimmy Johnson, but seems they have turned their back on him. Now it's the Penske drivers, but no need to worry about them anymore.. they are both out of the Chase.

 

[NorthKorea]

Kenseth was eliminated by Logano... and nothing was done to him..

That really misconstrues the reality of things. Kenseth was spun in a race where Logano was mere hundredths of a second behind Kenseth, racing for the lead. By contrast, Kenseth was a LAP DOWN when he drove Logano into the wall. Completely different situations, so I highly doubt there's any favoritism at play.

 

[OfficialFishel]

I agree that Nascar's punishment was inconsistent with previous penalties handed out. I think everyone misses the point that Logano cost Kenseth a chance in the chase so when Kenseth returned the favor by basically eliminating Logano out of the chase its a big deal now? Whether Kenseth was blocking Logano or not he still wrecked him to get by him. Last time I checked you are suppose to try and block the driver from passing you. Kenseth might have been a lap down also when he wrecked Logano but does that mean that he was supposed to just forget about Logano costing him a chance in the chase? I think not and I'm sure if the roles were reversed Logano would have done the same thing. Logano has seemed to find trouble several times in nascar with wrecking people and running his mouth. I honestly don't know who is worse him or Kesolowski who had a thing going with Edwards for a while. They both are good drivers but just think they are entitled to something. I wouldn't be surprised to see it carry over into next season and Kenseth get Logano again when he doesn't expect it.