Team Penske driver admits he had no idea what was happening post-race
MORE: Full coverage of Charlotte incident
RELATED: Follow your picks in the Perfect Chase Grid Challenge for chance at $100,000 prize
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano said he had no idea what was going on when he saw teammate Brad Keselowski and fellow driver Matt Kenseth involved in a physical altercation Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"I didn't know what to think," Logano, driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford said Tuesday after testing at Martinsville Speedway. "I didn't know what it was about, I guess, at first. Not until later on when I got back to the hauler and watched it on TV and figured out what everyone was mad about.
"You're focused on your own thing; you don't know what's going on.
"But I did stop and watch it (on the track's giant video screen) because I was interested in what the deal was."
Kenseth, Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart were all involved in separate incidents following the race either while heading to pit road or once they had entered the garage area.
Earlier Tuesday, NASCAR announced fines of $50,000 for Keselowski and $25,000 for Stewart for their actions. Both drivers were also placed on probation through Nov. 12.
Kenseth and Hamlin, teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, were not fined.
Keselowski clipped the rear of Hamlin's car on the cool-down lap, then struck Kenseth's car on the driver’s side after Kenseth had dropped his window net and begun unhooking his safety equipment.
When Keselowski unintentionally hit the back of Stewart's car after making contact with Kenseth, Stewart backed up and hit the No. 2 Ford, damaging its front end.
Hamlin appeared to follow Keselowski into the garage as the two cut through the covered bay areas, then attempted to confront the driver once they climbed out of their cars. Team members quickly ushered Hamlin into his hauler.
Moments later, Keselowski was walking between haulers when Kenseth chased him down and grabbed him from behind. Crews from both teams eventually became involved in the altercation before order was restored.
Keselowski, who was also participating in the Martinsville test, chose not to discuss the incident or NASCAR's reaction Tuesday, saying he wanted to focus on the test.
Logano, a winner in each segment of NASCAR’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup so far, took a light-hearted approach when asked what kind of message NASCAR's penalties delivered.
"You look at what happened and say, 'OK, I can't do that. Who got fined the most and who got fined a little bit? OK you can’'t do that (either),' " he said.
"I'm not here to (pass) judgment on what happened. But as a driver you kind of know where the lines are, but heat of the moment you kind of forget where those lines are. That's why a lot of time it’s better to talk about stuff a couple of days later instead of in the heat of the moment like that.
But, he added, "It makes it entertaining for everyone."
Logano and Kevin Harvick, winners of the first two races in the Contender Round, are guaranteed to be two of the eight drivers that will advance into the Eliminator Round with their victories.
The remaining six positions will be determined following Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (ESPN, 2 p.m. ET).
MORE:
READ: Latest
|
PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks
|
WATCH: Latest
|
FOLLOW LIVE: Get
|
|---|