Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, sits in the garage area during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gen-6 Testing at Texas Motor Speedway on April 11, 2013
Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
2012 Sprint Cup champion, Brad Keselowski and his teammate Joey Logano, both Penske racing drivers, had parts confiscated by NASCAR before the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
In an inspection about an hour before the scheduled start of the race, NASCAR officials required both Keselowski and Logano teams to replace rear-end housing parts around the suspension area of their cars. Leaving team members with a last-minute change to get their cars ready for the impending race.
Pemberton said the sanctioning body would allow the teams to keep their starting positions and not eject any team members, including the crew chiefs for the race, but penalties may forthcoming.
“It will be our typical deal – we’ll get together on Monday and go over everything when we get back to the R&D center (in North Carolina),” Pemberton said.
Logano is now, ninth in the point standings, with only a four-point difference between the eighth and 11th place, while Keselowski is second, only nine points away from the leader, Jimmie Johnson.
Potential penalties could include, fines, point reductions and crew suspensions.
“They felt like there was something that was a questionable item that they wanted to see replaced before the race, so we replaced all the parts,” said Penske competition director Travis Geisler. “They have them all. …I certainly understand their position and don’t disagree with where they are.”
With penalties possible, Geisler said he didn’t know what penalties NASCAR is considering.
“I’m not really sure,” Geisler said. “We always have a good, open dialogue with them, and they’ll keep us in the loop on how they feel about what’s going on there. We’ll discuss that in the upcoming days.”
On the other hand, Brad Keselowski was not as patient with the situations the Penske teams endured over the weekend. Keselowski made his feelings clear on the subject.
“I have one good thing to say,” Keselowski said. “That’s my team and effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute bull that’s been the last seven days in this garage area. The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I’m not happy about it. I don’t have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that.”
But even with penalties looming, early this week, Keselowski went on to say,
“There’s so much stuff going on… you have no f—— idea of what’s going on,” Keselowski said. “And that’s not your fault and that’s not a slam on you. I could tell you there’s nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we’ve been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful.
“I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted. Buy my guys kept their heads on straight and they showcased why they are a winning team and championship team. We’re not going to take it. We’re not going to be treated this way.”
Keselowski also added his concern for his team’s immediate future.
“I’m very worried about losing my crew chief, Paul Wolfe,” Keselowski said. “But I tell you I’ve got one of the best owners (Roger Penske) in the garage and I’m going to be first one at his desk telling him if anything happens. We’ll both be in a meeting with anybody and everybody who’ll listen.
“There’s been so much stuff going on, I could make a list two pages long, but I’m out.”
During the post race inspection, Martin Truex Jr‘s #56 car was found too low, and will likely also be considered for penalties from NASCAR this week.
NASCAR’s sanctioning body will be busy as they review all three situations with the #2, #22 and #56 cars and contemplate potential penalties. NASCAR typically does their review on Monday and announce penalties by Tuesday, so expect to hear their response early in the week.
