NASCAR Slams MWR for Richmond Shenanigans; Truex Out of Chase, Newman In

MWR in hot water after NASCAR penalties (Google Images)

When NASCAR said that they would look into whether Clint Bowyer spun his 5-Hour Energy Toyota intentionally with just seven laps left in Saturday night's race in Richmond to help teammate Martin Truex, Jr make the Chase, most fans probably did not expect much in the way of penalties. Perhaps just probation and a "don't do that again," as has been the case in the past. But when the sanctioning body announced it's penalties late Monday night, they left many fans, drivers and reporters surprised by what they heard.

After an in-depth investigation into what happened Saturday night, NASCAR decided to drop the hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing. Each of the team's three cars (Nos. 15, 55, 56) have been docked 50 championship driver and 50 championship owner points and crew chiefs Brian Pattie (No. 15), Scott Miller (No. 55) and Chad Johnston (No. 56) have been place on probation until Dec. 31. MWR was also fined a staggering $300,000 and the team's General Manager, Ty Norris, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR competition. But perhaps the biggest part of the penalty is that Truex has been bumped out of the Chase for the Cup field and Ryan Newman has taken his place.



Bowyer's spin continues to confuse (Google Images) 

Because the penalties were assessed after the race and not before the Chase seeding, Truex falls to 17th in the standings, which puts Newman ahead of him. Because both drivers had only one win, Newman got the final of two Wild Card slots Truex previously held. MWR has already announced that they have accepted NASCAR's penalties and will not appeal.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said that there was no concrete evidence that Bowyer spun intentionally, but they were convinced that the team tried to alter the outcome of the event because of what was said over the No. 55 car's radio between driver Brian Vickers and Norris, who also spots for Vickers. Late in the race, Norris implored Vickers to pit his car to help Truex gain the single point he needed to gain a Wild Card spot. "Are you talking to me?" responded Vickers. "I don't understand. Pit right now?" Norris responded, "You've got to pit this time. We need that one point." Truex  would gain that lone point for passing Vickers while he was on pit road and when Vickers returned to the track, he asked his team if they had found something wrong with one of his tires that would have warranted an unscheduled stop. Norris simply replied, "I'll see you after the race Brian. I owe you a kiss."

Meanwhile on teammate Clint Bowyer's radio, spotter Brett Griffin tells his driver that "that 39's going to win the race." On the next lap, Pattie asks his driver if he's hot inside the car and if his arm hurts. "Scratch it," Pattie says. Bowyer then proceeds to execute a controlled spin and move on. You can watch the video below and judge for yourselves whether it appeared premeditated.

"Obviously, we're very pleased with NASCAR s decision to provide Ryan Newman' s rightful place in this year's Chase," Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart said in a statement. "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. " SHR driver Ryan Newman added, "I am proud that NASCAR took a stand with respect to what went on Saturday night at Richmond. I know it was a tough decision to make. With that being said, myself, Matt Borland (crew chief) and this entire #39 team are looking forward to competing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. "

In addition to announcing that they would not appeal NASCAR's ruling, MWR co-owner Michael Waltrip released a statement saying, "what occurred on the #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 #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."