Matt Kenseth has been parked the next two races.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is suspended from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action for this week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway and next week’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. He’ll also be on probation for the next six months upon his return to NASCAR competition.
This all stems from his role in the crash that took out race leader Joey Logano with 47 laps remaining in last Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said that the combination of Kenseth being nine laps down and Logano leading the race at the time of the incident factored heavily on the decision to suspend Kenseth. “In our minds, that’s a little bit different than two drivers really going after it coming out of Turn 4 for a win versus what happened tonight,” O’Donnell said following the race Sunday.
Joe Gibbs Racing issued the following statement announcing that they’ll appeal the penalty.
JGR Statement Regarding Today's Ruling By NASCAR:
… Matt Kenseth will appeal the penalty issued by NASCAR… pic.twitter.com/FFDcxGJwcr
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 3, 2015
Danica Patrick was also penalized for attempting to take out driver David Gilliland during Sunday’s race. She was fined $50,000, docked 25 points and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
Where is the suspension for Harvick. He wrecked Trevor Bayne intentionally to stay in the chase and knocked out alot of cars.
I’m not going to speak for NASCAR. However, any prosecutor will tell you that he/she won’t take a case to court unless he/she is certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that he/she can get a conviction. If NASCAR had sanctioned Kevin Harvick for “intentionally wrecking Trevor Bayne” at Talladega and it affected whether he advanced in the Chase, he and Stewart-Haas Racing would no doubt appeal the penalty. If NASCAR had nothing concrete to justify the sanction to the appeals panel, they’d overturn it.
In other words, NASCAR wasn’t going to start a fight they weren’t prepared to win.
I think Dale Sr. would have dumped Joey too.
I just couldn’t see Dale Earnhardt taking out the leader when he’s nine laps down. I could’ve seen him doing what Joey Logano did at Kansas.