Martin Truex Jr. was in contention for his second win of the season last weekend at Kentucky Speedway until he wasn’t for a penalty that has rarely been called.
The No. 78 was penalized for passing to the left on pit road late in the Quaker State 400. It put him to the rear of the field and took away his opportunity to contend for the victory. It’s been a controversial topic since, but it was not the first time a penalty right, wrong, or indifferent has changed the complexion of a Sprint Cup Series race.
Courtesy of Racing Insights, here is a list of notable officiating calls recently:
- Martin Truex Jr. penalized for passing on pit road at Kentucky. It is the first time this penalty has been called this season in the Sprint Cup Series.
- Brad Keselowski’s no call at Las Vegas earlier this year after a door slam from a pit crew member at Las Vegas. Keselowski went on to win. He was penalized at Pocono for a similar issue.
- Matt Kenseth was penalized at Atlanta earlier this year for improper fueling because the gas man laid a wrench on the deck lid.
- Kurt Busch penalized for jumping start of the race at Phoenix last fall after Joey Logano did the same thing at Phoenix earlier in the year.
- Talladega in the fall of 2015, on the only green-white-checkered attempt a spin occurs before the start - finish line and series officials rule that it wasn’t an official attempt at a green-white-checkered. Now there is a different overtime rule.
- Carl Edwards penalized at Richmond in 2012 for jumping the restart. There were several factors that caused confusion (who really was the leader, scoreboard showed Edwards but NASCAR said it was Stewart, Edwards beat Stewart to the start – finish line) but under today’s restart rules it would be legal.
In the day’s since Truex Jr.’s penalty, NASCAR has said they will reiterate pit road rules to all drivers going forward.