RELATED: See photos of the wreck, from the garage | Full race results
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The simmering issues between NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano reached a boiling point Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
And the result found Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota parked by NASCAR officials while Logano, winner of the last three races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, suddenly was last in points among the eight Chase contenders.
“It was just a complete coward move, especially for a championship race car driver and race team,” Logano said after exiting the infield care center. “Just a complete coward. I don’t have anything else to say.”
Kenseth, eliminated from Chase contention a week after contact with Logano at Kansas Speedway as the two battled for the lead, was already laps down and nursing a banged-up race car in Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 when he got into Logano on Lap 454 of the 500-lap race, leaving both cars crashed against the wall.
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Logano, looking poised for a fourth straight win, was leading at the time of the incident.
“It’s a chicken-you-know-what move to completely take out the leader when your race is over,” Logano said. “We’ll move on. We’re going to work hard and we’re going to get our car back out there hopefully. We’ve just got to go win.”
Kenseth said Sunday’s incident was “definitely my fault.
“I got into him,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. “The right front was dragging down there … and man (I) couldn’t get it to turn and collected him.
“I know it’s got to be disappointing for him. It’s a tough sport; some days you’re the bat and some days you’re the ball. I was the ball a few weeks ago and I was the ball again today, so that part of it is never fun.”
Kenseth had suffered damage to his car before the incident on a previous restart when Logano’s Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, slid up and into the JGR entry. Kenseth’s car turned hard to the left as a result, clipping fellow Chase driver Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing).
NASCAR officials met with members of the No. 20 team, including crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs, at the conclusion of the race.
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Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, wouldn’t speculate on impending punishment for Kenseth’s actions on the track.
“We were certainly disappointed with what took place tonight on the race track,” he said. “… Like we always do, there’s still a lot to digest from what happened tonight. We’ll do that. We’ll have some additional conversations and probably come out with something, if there is anything to discuss, on Tuesday.”
That disappointment, he said, stemmed from the fact that the incident involved a driver not in contention for the win, one that “in fact, was many laps down,” he said.
“In our minds, that’s a little bit different than two drivers really going after it coming out of Turn 4 for a win versus what happened tonight,” O’Donnell said.
Todd Gordon, Logano’s crew chief, said his team would “go to Texas (the next stop on the schedule) and win.
“We’ve done it before,” he said. “We’ll do it again.”
Asked if Kenseth crossed the line, Gordon simply said, “I’ve got an awesome driver in Joey Logano and an awesome team. … They dug and we got back out, didn’t take a DNF.
“We did everything and continued to dig all day. We’ll do that; we’ll continue to dig along. We’ve got two more races to make this happen.”
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The crash was not the first incident of the day involving the two drivers. Earlier in the race, Kenseth tapped Logano from behind shortly after a restart on Lap 242 to move into second.
Kenseth, parked by NASCAR officials following the latter crash, was credited with a 38th-place finish. Logano, who returned to the race following repairs to his No. 22 Ford, finished 37th.
Keselowski said his contact with Kenseth on the restart wasn’t intentional and was a result of getting hit from behind, which “pushed me into the 20.”
“My right-front wheel hit Kenseth’s left rear and it just broke the right-front suspension off the car,” he said. “The car wouldn’t turn and just kept going straight until I couldn’t do anything and I wrecked everybody. I just didn’t have any steering wheel left.”
WATCH: Kenseth, Kes make contact at Martinsville
Race winner Jeff Gordon, the first driver to earn a berth in the championship finale later this month at Homestead-Miami Speedway, said he saw the Kenseth/Logano accident unfold but admitted “I wasn’t ready for it.”
“I couldn’t quite see what the 22’s role (Logano) played in it,” he said. “As soon as I went by I thought, ‘Wow, did I just see that?’
“I also put myself in Matt’s shoes. I could relate. I could relate to frustration getting the best of you. … You might have some regrets later, but I understand why you make that choice at the moment.”
Kenseth, a five-time winner this season, won the series title in 2003, the final season before the current Chase format was brought into play. Logano has a series’ leading six victories this season.
“You never like to be in these situations,” Kenseth said. “They really stink to be honest with you, but sometimes you get put in these spots and you’ve got to try to keep respect in the garage area. You can’t get yourself ran over. …
“Like I said, I hated the way it ended.”
Logano, no doubt, did as well.
There were no conversations between the two drivers following the incident.
“They won’t let me get to him,” Logano said.
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