Matt Kenseth crashes Joey Logano at Martinsville (Videos)
Joey Logano’s bid for a fourth-straight win in the Chase went away thanks to the bumper of Matt Kenseth.
And his title chances might have disappeared as well.
While Kenseth wouldn’t admit it directly, it was pretty clear. The lap 454 crash was retribution for the contact that Logano and Kenseth had while racing for the lead at Kansas Speedway two weeks ago. Just watch the video.
Kenseth and Logano made contact with five laps to go at Kansas. Kenseth was in front and he moved up in front of Logano as the two headed towards turn one. Logano got inside Kenseth and the front bumper of Logano’s met the left-rear of Kenseth’s. Kenseth went spinning.
Logano maintained the contact was hard racing and noted how Kenseth had blocked him multiple times during the battle for the lead. Kenseth said Logano was lying about the purposefulness of the crash. He was convinced that Logano did it on purpose.
And with some extra incentive fresh in his mind, Kenseth took the opportunity for vindication at Martinsville, a race that Jeff Gordon ultimately won.
Kenseth had a wounded car thanks to contact with Brad Keselowski, Logano’s teammate. The Penske cars had been up front all day and when they would restart on the front row, the leader would start to the outside and non-preferred lane. The second-place car would slow down to make sure the leader would get to the inside without incident.
On a previous restart, Keselowski slowed to let Logano in. The restart wasn’t the speediest or cleanest and Keselowski was forced to check up to let Logano in front in turns 1 and 2. He and Kenseth made contact (Keselowski’s right front tire caught with Kenseth’s left rear tire) and a calamity ensued.
Kenseth was angry with the restart and with the contact from Keselowski. So he decided the best use of his wounded car would be as a revenge machine. After all, because he didn’t win at Kansas, he was out of the Chase. By crashing Logano at Martinsville, he could stop the driver’s winning streak and get payback out of the way before Logano potentially won a race in the third round.
“His race was over and he tried so hard to catch us the first time and he took out half the field, and he was successful the second time so I give that to him,” Logano said. “It’s kind of a coward move.Actually, a really coward move for a race car driver to do that, essentially someone as mature and an experienced race car driver that knows what this is all about … We were still leading the race. We’re not gonna let this take us down.This is a strong team and he’ll have his.”
The payback against Logano isn’t unexpected; it was clear Kenseth was going to to something at some point to Logano. But to do it in the manner that he did Sunday was absolutely ridiculous and absurd. He also didn’t directly admit what he did after the fact, either.
“There’s people that say a lot of things,” Kenseth said when asked if the move was intentional. “The splitter was dragging the ground and got into the corner and certainly ruined his day. I know what it’s like to be that too. Some days you’re the bat some days you’re the ball. It’s never fun when you’re the ball so like I said disappointing end, a disappointing end to our Chase and he’s got a couple races left, he’s got the best car, he might get a couple of wins here and still have a shot at it.
“Certainly disappointed it came down to that. Man, I was out there trying to race as hard as I could for Dollar General and try to get the win. I really thought we were going to have a shot for the win before they got me the first time. Disappointed to get wiped out twice in the last four weeks with a shot to win for sure.”
NASCAR parked Kenseth after the crash – his car wasn’t going to continue on anyway – but the sanctioning body’s desire for dramatic moments and highlights whenever possible has helped foster the environment that Kenseth thrived in on Sunday. Witness what he said at Talladega after last week’s race.
“I got wrecked out two weeks in a row from people doing what they had to do to make the Chase, but call it what you want. But I just feel like they lost total control of this whole thing. It’s not what racing is all about. [Logano] last week wrecks us for the win to get in, to keep us out and get him in and then today we’ve got a chance, he’s lined up behind, he’s dragging the brakes, he’s trying not to go. He’s doing everything he can to make it worse for you, so he’s standing there in victory lane and he’s happy, but the racing is just – it’s just kind of out of control.”
Kenseth deserves a lot of scorn too, of course. The 2003 champion should know better than to look like an absolute punk against a driver 18 years his junior. If you’re going to get revenge, do it somewhat stealthily. Don’t do it with a cartoon-sized mallet.
The Chase’s elimination format has become all about survival. Winning isn’t everything; avoiding bad finishes is. Drivers know that passing each other can be impossible. The best way to create a points gap is to hope for – or create – a mistake for an opponent. And with fights, temper tantrums and games of bumper cars becoming the norm in the Chase, NASCAR has been content to let the ridiculousness thrive.
Will it do anything punitive about Kenseth’s actions on Sunday? We’re going to find out.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
