NASCAR’s Brad Moran explains Joey Logano Phoenix penalty, lengthy caution laps

Joey Logano seemed like a man on a mission at the beginning of this past weekend’s race at Phoenix Raceway. However, that all changed when NASCAR controversially penalized him for a restart during Stage 1.

The reigning Cup Series champion was banged for a restart violation after he dipped below the yellow line before completely crossing the start/finish line. He then was forced to relinquish the lead and serve a pass-through penalty. At the time, he certainly didn’t agree: “No way,” Logano shouted. “It was freakin’ nothing. That is ridiculous.”

Fans and media members alike thought it was a bit of a nitpick on the official’s part. During an appearance on SiriusXM Radio’s The Morning Drive on Tuesday, NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran explained what went into the call against Logano.

“It’s really clear in the driver video, as well as all the driver crew chief notes for the rules of a particular racetrack. It’s clear you must establish the lane a line above the inside painted line, and you cannot drop down until you cross the start finish line,” Moran stated. “Obviously, Joey was on the front row at that time and did not establish the lane above the inside line, which puts all the other competitors in jeopardy of doing the same thing and following them down there. It’s a clear black and white penalty. There’s not a lot of gray or judgment in that call.”

As you can tell, NASCAR isn’t straying from their stance on the matter. Logano did fight back through the field, but he was forced to use one of his option tire pairs sooner than he would’ve liked. That took him out of the race for the win in the end, but he ended up coming home P13 when the checkered flag waved.

Meanwhile, Logano’s penalty wasn’t the only thing NASCAR fans took issue with over the weekend. Throughout the afternoon in Phoenix this past Sunday, the caution flags seemed to be more lengthy than ever. Moran explained there was a myriad of factors for that, and it all tied back into the option tire.

“We obviously have to capture the field. We have to give the free pass in a spot before we open pit road. We have TV (commercial time) as well that we all tie in together. We may have to add a couple of extra laps, which we did on Sunday,” Moran added. “Now a part of that is that as we go to softer tires, we obviously get more marbles and it takes us a little bit longer to get the track back into racing condition. So, again, the softer the tire (and) the more marbles, we have to get the grooves cleaned up and that is usually an extra lap or two to do that.”

As the option tire becomes more prevalent in NASCAR, we may see everything a little more streamlined when it comes to caution flags. Regardless, Brad Moran and the rest of the Cup Series’ officials certainly had their fingerprints on this past weekend’s race in Phoenix, and Joey Logano is still wishing that wasn’t the case.