Can’t say I’ve heard that one before…
We’re used to seeing NASCAR teams push the limits to try to get a competitive advantage. But most of the time the modifications are to the car, not to the driver’s gear.
NASCAR announced ahead of today’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway that Cup Series driver Joey Logano would be forced to start at the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty once the race starts due his gloves not meeting SFI specifications. (SFI is an organization that sets safety standards for racing equipment).
The gloves are reportedly not only a safety issue, but were apparently altered to give Logano a competitive advantage during the race.
Drivers often stick their hand out the window to block air from entering the car and give the car an aero advantage at superspeedway tracks, and it seems that Logano’s #22 Penske team found a way to modify the gloves to help with that advantage.
NASCAR on Fox also showed a good look at the illegal glove during their pre-race coverage. As you can see, it appears that the team modified the glove to include webbing between the thumb and pointer finger to help Joey redirect more air when he stuck his hand out the window.
Got a baseball mitt going on there, eh Joey?
There’s no word on whether the team used the modified gloves during last week’s Daytona 500, when Logano finished 32nd after a late-race wreck.
Obviously people on social media were questioning why NASCAR didn’t just tell Logano to get another pair of gloves, because this a pretty severe penalty for the driver who was originally scheduled to start the race in 2nd. Now, he’ll likely be a lap down after serving his penalty and be forced to battle throughout the day to try to make his way back towards the front.
But NASCAR’s clearly not playing around, not only when it comes to driver safety but also on teams attempting to push the envelope to get an advantage on the track.
We’ll have to wait until Tuesday to see if Logano faces any further penalties, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see NASCAR take some points or money away from the team after this one too.
Just a bizarre situation after an already-bizarre start to the 2024 NASCAR season.
