NASCAR racing is more or less similar to any major contact sport. The only difference here is that the drivers do their bidding with the help of their race cars. From putting the bumper on the rear end of their rivals’ rides to exchanging door paints. If we were to count such encounters, we’d probably end up making a documentary.

However, there are times when drivers may cross that fine line of hard racing and end up intentionally wrecking the opposition. NASCAR, for the most part, has been lenient and let things go, but things changed in 2015 when they handed out a major race-related suspension to Matt Kenseth. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver took Joey Logano out of contention by intentionally crashing him during a playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR reprimanding Kenseth sent out a strong message to the entire grid that they wouldn’t tolerate such antics by the drivers on the track. He was handed a two-race penalty along with a six-month probation. However, this wasn’t the only incident that day in which NASCAR intervened, they also dropped the hammer on Danica Patrick. The SHR driver was reprimanded $50,000 and 25 docked points for crashing into David Gilliland.

This was a controversial decision at the time. Matt Kenseth, reacting to this ruling had also stated, “Unfairly made the example instead of knowing where the line is. I’m not going to change how I race.” This was also only the second year in which NASCAR playoffs consisted of knockout rounds; it was called the chase back then.

However, with the Cup Series being under a two-week Olympic break, NASCAR decided to take a stroll down memory lane. In doing so, they hand-picked some of the most memorable playoff moments in recent history, including Kenseth wrecking Logano at Martinsville. This wasn’t appreciated by the fans, as they called out NASCAR for putting a bad light on the former JGR driver based on his one-on-track incident.

But fans are unimpressed by NASCAR’s attempt to stay relevant during the mid-season break

Going by the title of the video shared by NASCAR on YouTube, they should’ve been focusing on the best racing bits from the playoff stages. Rather, they resorted to showcasing the drama that unfolded between the drivers, which they chose to penalize. Calling out this blatant hypocrisy on NASCAR’s part, this fan wrote, “Top playoff moments and it’s something they punished him for.”

Kenseth was on the verge of making the Championship 4 after a stellar campaign in 2015, winning four races. However, his hopes of a championship run were foiled by none other than Logano earlier in the playoffs at Kansas. The Penske driver spun him at Kansas, and his response came later at Martinsville. Therefore, a few fans were not thrilled to see him being put in a bad light by NASCAR. “Why celebrate the end of Kenseths career like that?”

However, not everyone thought that the JGR driver was affected by the NASCAR questionable ruling, “Stop b****ing about the suspension it’s been 9 years and it was fully deserved.”

On the flip side, a few fans missed how action-packed and entertaining the NASCAR Cup Series was back then. The only thing that hasn’t changed is inconsistency in the decision-making process. This was evident from how they milked Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Kyle Busch’s brawl. “2014-15 had the most memorable playoffs, Texas fight, charlotte fight. Then these tangled. Now these guys can’t even get close enough to each to create these kinds of moments.”

Meanwhile, a few Matt Kenseth fans were glad that he crashed Logano’s chances of being able to contend for the championship. “I totally loved it as a Matt Kenseth fan!!” Another fan chimed in, stating, “lol they released it on birthday today too , as a Matt kenseth fan, crazy 😂”

With the way the 2024 season is shaping up, more playoff moments are in the making. Hopefully, it includes a fair bit of drama along with some thrilling racing action.