NASCAR fines Joey Logano $50K for pit road actions at Richmond
NASCAR has penalized Joey Logano for his actions following Austin Dillon’s controversial win at Richmond on Sunday. It was announced that Logano has been fined $50,000 for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct on pit road.
While Dillon was doing his burnout and celebrating after the victory, Logano came down pit road and spun his tires in frustration near Dillon’s pit crew, his car doing a bit of a fishtail in the process. When Logano got out of his car, a NASCAR official came over to berate him, as there were a ton of bystanders in the area.
While Logano was receptive to the official’s warning, he couldn’t undo the move he pulled while blinded by rage. Now, he’ll have to pay the price, as NASCAR is opting to fine him for his actions.
Following the race,, The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck broke down the incident on an episode of The Teardown following the race, and gave their opinions on whether Logano should be punished for his actions.
“Expletives flying, emotions. There’s tears. This is an upset victory. Controversial, of course, and then Logano comes down pit road, obviously upset. Kind of does this mini fishtail, little mini burnout kind of thing, where the, you know, kind of smokes the tires by the crew, they kind of take exception to that, and it’s over quickly,” Bianchi explained. “Logano pulls up, you know, not too far down pit road, but close enough, and you’re like, ‘Oh man, he’s like, close enough where he’s gonna get the race car, and this is who knows what’s gonna happen here, right?’ But quickly, NASCAR got on Logano, like an official was on him in a heartbeat and quickly admonished him for the little mini burnout thing.
“I think, honestly, that was, I don’t want to say, I don’t want to speak for Logano, I don’t put words in his mouth, but I do wonder if that maybe kind of squelched whatever he may have been thinking of doing. Because, like, he sat in his car for a minute and the official was admonishing him, like, ‘No, don’t do that.’ He gets out of the car. He and the official had another conversation. The officials like, ‘I know you’re upset. You can’t do that,’ you know, that kind of thing. And I do wonder, like, just some kind of, ‘Hey, that was just enough,’ where it was like, he wasn’t gonna walk down there or whatever he may have, putting words in his mouth. Don’t mean to. Just wondering.
“So, all of that happens, and that was that. And then Austin celebrating his victory, Logano makes his comments to the media on pit road, which we’ve all heard. Denny Hamlin gave his comments, and that was it. Austin Dillon went to victory lane, and they’re celebrating.”
After being questioned by Gluck as to whether it was a safety concern and if we could see Logano punished for the incident, Bianchi certainly didn’t rule that out, before NASCAR made their official ruling.
“It was very much a safety concern, as in, like he did as little mini burnout with people all over pit road, kind of, basically in front of the No. 3 team,” Bianchi added. “It was, you know, kind of one of those things. That’s what he was saying. Like, you can’t do that.
“… It would be a small (fine). Again, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer addressed it afterward. They are going to look at it. If it would be, it would be a small fine. But, you know, again, we’ll see what happens.”
Alas, we now have a bit of closure as it pertains to Joey Logano’s situation. Nevertheless, Richmond was a tough pill for the No. 22 to swallow, but he knows revenge is a dish best-served cold. Austin Dillon will be on high alert.