Hey there, Ryan Newman! Say good-bye to Martin Truex Jr. in the 2013 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, because teammate Clint Bowyer had an “accident” Saturday night at Richmond and NASCAR brass decided to throw a big monkey wrench at Michael Waltrip Racing.
Why? Because Michael Waltrip Racing has been fined $300,000, the team’s executive vice president/general manager/spotter Ty Norris is suspended indefinitely AND Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers are all getting docked 50 championship points. Oh, and Michael Waltrip Racing is also losing 50 points in the Sprint Cup owner’s standings.
Martin Truex Jr. losing those 50 points knocks him down to 691 points and puts him at 17th place in the Sprint Cup standings. Because Martin Truex Jr. drops, Ryan Newman moves into the Chase for the Sprint Cup with the second wild card.
I have a headache now. But Ryan Newman doesn’t.
All this came down just before 7 p.m. central time Monday night when NASCAR sent out an alert, apparently, and the Twitterverse went all agog. Credit the Associated Press’ NASCAR reporter Jenna Fryer with breaking the news first on Twitter that Martin Truex Jr. was getting bounced from the Chase and Ryan Newman was getting in as a wild card.
I guess this is sweet justice. I didn’t think NASCAR was going to do this after what happened Saturday night with Clint Bowyer’s “accidental” spin out. After Clint Bowyer spun out, NASCAR threw a caution and race leader Ryan Newman lost his lead after pitting. There were a few other hijinks surrounding all this, but I’m not going to get into it because we need to focus on the big picture.
NASCAR president Michael Helton says “There’s not conclusive evidence that (Clint Bowyer’s) spin was intentional.” Michael Helton went on to say that Ty Norris did confirm having a conversation with Brian Vickers (of the No. 55 car) to get into the pits, which would help Martin Truex Jr.’s chances of making the Chase.
And that $300,000 fine? It’s the largest in NASCAR history.
Ryan Newman will happily take it.
“Obviously, we’re very pleased with NASCAR’s decision….” Ryan Newman’s boss Tony Stewart said in a statement.
And NASCAR Nation is obviously shocked.