Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

""Spingate 2013" - A Lookback"

Posted by nascarman on September 7, 2018

Viewed 4446 times Tweet Friday September 7, 2018, marks the five year anniversary of one of the most sneaky moments in modern NASCAR. On that day in 2013 was the infamous "Spingate" controversy in which Michael Waltrip Racing was accused of and penalized for manipulating the ending of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond in order to get Martin Truex Jr. in the playoffs. At the same time, Team Penske was desperate to keep Joey Logano in the Chase. There was a lot going on, and there has never been a more chaotic cutoff race before the NASCAR playoffs.





(Jerry Markland/Getty Images)



NASCAR's playoff structure at the time allowed 12 teams to make the "Chase for the Sprint Cup." The top ten in points were locked into the Chase as well as two wild card drivers added based on highest number of wins among teams not already in the top-10.



Points Entering Richmond

8. Logano +16 (1 win)

9. Biffle +14 (1 win)

10. Kurt Busch +6 (0 wins)

---cutoff---

11. J. Gordon -6 (0 wins)

12. Kahne -10 (2 wins, Clinched Wildcard)

13. Truex -15 (1 win, Tentative Wildcard)

14. Newman -20 (1 win)



Richmond

The playoff race was made a lot closer by Joey Logano's poor run. With 15 laps to go, Jeff Gordon running in 8th had climbed into a Chase position by reaching 10th in points. In his first year for Team Penske, Logano was struggling that night, running two laps down in 25th and 2 points behind Gordon. Despite being out of the top-10, Logano would get a wild card birth for being the highest ranked driver with one win. Holding down the 7th position, Truex was 7 points behind Logano and would miss the playoffs.



10 Laps to Go In one of the most dramatic moments of NASCAR's Chase era, Ryan Newman chased down and passed Carl Edwards for the lead. Had he gone on to win, Newman would have jumped Logano and Truex to get the final wild card because it would have been his second win conpared to their one.



Because of how close the standings were, two teams started acting in desperation on their radios.



Joey Logano's Team: As it became apparent that Newman might get the final wild card position, Joey Logano's #22 team started going after every point they could to re-pass Gordon for 10th in the standings. Running poorly and two laps down, they looked to make a deal and pass David Gilliland for 24th.



13 Laps to Go: Gilliland's spotter instructs the crew chief, Frank Kerr, to switch to radio channel 2 for a discussion.



Spotter: Hey, the 22 is requesting that we give him this spot at the end of the race. They said they need it just to make sure that they're locked in. And they said they'd probably be able to help us in the future, with whatever, you know.



9 Laps to Go:

Kerr: 22 could really use that spot we got, bud.

Spotter: David, we're gonna have to let this 22 go, he's about a half straightaway back. He's the only position we can lose.



Before Gilliland could act to give up the position, the caution came out.



Under caution with 4 laps to go

Kerr: (Unintelligible)... in fact, you tell that spotter up there, it better pay big.

Spotter: Yeah, it's not the spotter. It's the whole committee.

Kerr: The committee knows what I've been asking for.

Spotter: We got the big dog, we're getting all of his cronies.

Kerr: Tell them Travis knows what I've been asking for. (*Presumably referring to Travis Geisler, Competition Director of Team Penske)



With three laps to go, Gilliland appeared to let off the gas early entering turn three. Logano went to the inside of the track and passed Gilliland.







Michael Waltrip Racing

As the race neared the end, Clint Bowyer had been getting briefed on who was leading the race. It was apparent that Truex was going to miss the playoffs. With 9 laps to go, Bowyer recieve a very unusual command from his crew chief.



Brian Pattie (Clint Bowyer's Crew-Chief): Is your arm starting to hurt? I bet it's hot in there. Itch it.

Bowyer: Oh, yeah



15 seconds after Bowyer was ordered to itch his arm, Clint's car spun at the exit of turn 4 and brought out the caution with 8 laps to go. All cars pitted during the caution and Newman lost the lead.





(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)



(On the subsequent restart with 3 laps to go, Bowyer was ordered by his crew to follow the pace car down pit road)

Bowyer: God damn. We didn't need to finish last.



As the field went back to green, the MWR team needed more help to ensure that Logano would not need a wild card. Ty Norris, Vice President of MWR and spotter for Brian Vickers, called Vickers to pit road explicitly for points purposes.



Norris: We're probably going to pit here on green... We gotta pit.

Vickers: You talking to me? We got to pit?

Norris: Yeah, we're gonna pit. We're gonna pit.

Vickers: I've got to what? I don't understand. Pit right now?

(Race restarts)

Norris: We've got to pit this time. We need that one point.

Vickers: 10-4. So I got a tire going down?

Norris: Yes

(Pits with one lap to go)

Norris: Guys, look at it. Get a look at it.

(Post race)

Vickers: Did... uh... Martin make it?

Norris: I'll see you after the race Brian. I owe you a kiss.



Because Bowyer lost two laps in the spin/pit sequence and Vickers lost one, and Gilliland was passed, Logano was able to gain extra points from all three of them. He finished the regular season one point better than Gordon, giving Logano 10th place in points. For the wild card spot, Newman's 3rd place finish and Truex's 7th caused them to have the same number of points. With one win each, Truex won the tie-breaker because he had a 2nd place finish, whereas Newman did not. When the smoke cleared, Gordon missed the Chase by one point, and Newman was out because of a tie-breaker.







Penalties

After an investigation, NASCAR believed Michael Waltrip Racing was guilty of conspiring to affect the playoffs outcome. While they didn't have proof that Bowyer's spin was intentional, the clear radio directives to Vickers were enough to convict them. MWR was penalized $300,000, Norris was suspended indefinitely, and all three drivers were fined 50 points. That penalty bumped Truex out of the playoffs and moved Newman in as the wild card.



While NASCAR did investigate the Logano/Gilliland communications, no penalties were issued. Because of all the deceit surrounding race manipulation, a special exception was made to the playoffs and Jeff Gordon was added as a special 13th Chase driver.



In the months that followed, Truex's sponsor, NAPA, left MWR angry over the actions at Richmond. The massive sponsor revenue loss forced the team to shut down Truex's operations and reduce to a two-car team. Finally at the end of 2015, MWR became unprofitable and was forced to close completely. While Martin Truex was forced to seek out a new team after the 2013 season, he went on to win the Cup championship in 2017. MWR never won another race after "Spingate." NASCAR immediately created a "100% rule" requiring teams to run at full capacity all the time, explicitly forbidding them from intentionally losing positions. That rule has never been violated.



The 2018 battle to get into NASCAR's playoffs isn't nearly as close as 2013's. But with a lot on the line, you should always keep an eye on desperate people.



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