NASCAR Chase Adds 13th Spot

Anyone notice a 13th spot in this years NASCAR Chase? All major news outlets including Yahoo Sports picked up on this debacle a couple of weeks ago.

It all began at the last pre-Chase race in Richmond on September 7th. With six laps to go both current leader Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon were in place to clinch spots in the Chase with Newman ready to claim a wild card spot and Gordon ready to claim the 10th guaranteed spot. On this lap Clint Boyer spun out, many of whom called this spin intentional which we will get to in a second. On the restart Newman lost the lead and his wild card spot in the Chase to Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordan lost enough spots to turn over his tenth guaranteed position in the Chase to Joey Logano. This one spin out and resulting restart took out Newman and Gordon from the Chase and ultimately replaced them with Truex and Logano. We often see NASCAR race finishes full of wrecks as drivers go all out to win races but this one car spin out caused quite a controversy that was just beginning.

First, Truex was penalized which ultimately dropped him from the Chase and allowed Newman back in however Boyer was never mentioned or penalized probably because he did not qualify for the Chase anyways. Second and the most damning news I have read from multiple sources was that radio communications between Front Row Motorsports and Penske Motorsports spoke of fixing race positioning to allow Logano to move up and make the Chase. Last but not least NASCAR then announced they would add a 13th spot to the Chase for Gordan after what had just unfolded in the days prior.

Talk about a dirty and fixed sport when you have the governing body making these changes and the drivers and owners making deals to manipulate spots via spin outs and more. Live reporters never inquire about fixes but check out the video above for more insight and how big this mess became.