LAS VEGAS, Nev. – It was a random check of high-definition in-car cameras that revealed the safety equipment violation that cost Joey Logano his second-place starting spot and a drive-through penalty in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway—and lightened his pocket by $10,000.
Specifically, the left-hand glove Logano used during his qualifying lap featured unapproved webbing in all the gaps between the fingers, the largest being the space between the forefinger and thumb.
Drivers typically use their left hands to try to block airflow within their cars. In theory, the webbing would be more effective in creating an aerodynamic advantage.
However, the violation involved the modification of an SFI Foundation-approved glove, rendering it non-compliant with mandated safety standards.
“We have our safety cameras inside all the Cup cars, and we review them quite often during practice and qualifying, and we look for oddities,” NASCAR Cup Series director Brad Moran said on Saturday morning while showing the glove to reporters in the NASCAR hauler.
“Unfortunately, when we went through the random check on the 22 (Logano)—we did about five cars in Atlanta—we spotted something that was obviously concerning. SFI does not approve any glove with any webbing, obviously for safety reasons.”
Though the webbing in the glove gives the driver the ability to block more air, the additional material could hinder a driver from getting out of a race car, releasing seat belts or undoing a window net, Moran said.
“So it’s definitely a safety violation,” he added.
Moran also displayed the offending roof rail deflectors that cost Stewart-Haas drivers Noah Gragson (No. 10) and Ryan Preece (No. 41) 35 championship points each and the organization 35 owner points per car.
NASCAR mandates that those CAD-regulated, team-built parts lie flat on the roof. The right-side rails on the two Stewart-Haas cars were machined to protrude above the allowable height.
“There’s three per side, and they sit in a groove on top of the greenhouse,” Moran said. “They’re meant to sit flat. So (that’s) the problem we had with these, and they were the exact same for both cars.
“We don’t get into why they’re like that. They were only on the right side of the two vehicles, and they certainly don’t meet the CAD files. So that’s what the penalty was for.”
Moran said every other car in the field was checked after the violation was discovered, and no other vehicles had the same issue, including the Nos. 4 and 14 of Stewart-Haas, driven by Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe, respectively.
After scoring his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season wearing legal gloves, Logano addressed the glove debacle.
“As a driver, you work with the team and, hey, I’m going to take a portion of responsibility of that too, obviously. I should. I put the glove on,” Logano said. “I didn’t build the glove or make it on my own. I can’t sew. We had conversations about it.
“What I’m proud about with this team is, yeah, that was a tough situation for us,” he continued. “It was hard to go through and embarrassing for sure, but the fact we got through it and just move on and focus on the next week, we showed that we have some speed in our race car and to be able to put it on the pole here, to me, is a statement type lap, so I’m proud of that.”
Logano, however, declined to comment if he wore the webbed glove when winning Team Penske’s first Daytona 500 pole on February 14.
Logano, who won the pole for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas wearing legal gloves, declined to comment on if he wore the webbed glove when winning Team Penske’s first Daytona 500 pole. He said
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
** CATCHFENCE.com Senior Writer | Editor Chris Knight contributed to this report. **