NASCAR is expected to announce today any penalties to Matt Kenseth for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano during last weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said after the race that Kenseth’s action was not similar to the contact with Logano in the final laps at Kansas last month that caused Kenseth to spin and lose a chance at the victory.
“What was disappointing today was a driver not competing for a win as many laps down (Kenseth was 10 laps off the pace from an earlier crash involving contact with Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski) when that happened,’' O’Donnell said.
“In our minds that’s a little bit different than two drivers really going after it coming out of Turn 4 for a win vs. what happened tonight.”
In a NASCAR Talk poll that drew more than 100,000 votes, more than 60 percent thought NASCAR should not penalize Kenseth.
Jeff Gordon, who won at Martinsville to advance to the championship round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he didn’t think Kenseth should be suspended but that NASCAR “is going to have to react in a big way.’' Gordon was fined $100,000 and docked 25 points after intuitionally wrecking Clint Bowyer during the Phoenix Chase race in 2012.
O’Donnell said Sunday that a decision could come Tuesday.
Another decision NASCAR will have to make is what penalties, if any, to hand Danica Patrick for internationally hitting David Gilliland’s car in retaliation for an incident earlier in last weekend’s race.