The Atlanta race was drama galore, beginning with crashes unfolding almost immediately after the green flag was shown, and ending with a spectacular photo finish. But another major incident that animated the Ambetter Health 400 race was something not digested well by NASCAR authorities. They raised their eyebrows when Joey Logano bent the rules for his needs.
Logano tweaked his uniform a little bit. His gloves had a webbed section between his thumb and forefinger. The main objective was aerodynamic advantage over other drivers. However, Logano’s modified gloves caught the attention of officials on his car cam. He has been slapped with a hefty money fine. But some veteran drivers including Kevin Harvick lauded his innovative approach.
Joey Logano gets the stamp of approval from Kevin Harvick, if not from authorities
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In a recent interview with Fox, co-host Kaitlyn Vincie asked Harvick his take on the issue. Harvick waxed praises about Joey Logano while reflecting on past incidents and taking a jab at Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Read More: NASCAR World Disgraced by Leaked Footage of Joey Logano’s Cheating Glove Tactic at Daytona
“I love it. I know of a lot of stories…there used to be guys that used to have a huge piece of plexiglass that would pull that baby up from behind the door pad, pull that thing up to the top of the window net. Dale Jr, if you might be able to elaborate on this story (laughs)..not to say that we didn’t have one.”
Then Harvick heaped appreciation on creative minds in the sport. “But I love the innovation part of our sport. I love the creativity. It sucks when you get busted. But when you think of things that other people aren’t doing, to me that’s a feather in the cap…I heard that it was used for multiple years, and if that’s the case, kudos to him.”
Joey Logano was slapped with a fine of $10,000, based on both a competitive infraction as well as a safety violation. NASCAR also issued a points penalty to SHR drivers Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece since the roof rails of their cars did not meet rule book specifications.
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Logano’s flow of creative juices was also commended by veteran driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Jr. did not shy away from validating Logano’s rule-bending efforts
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Having spent years of invaluable experience in the field, even Dale Earnhardt Jr recognized the need for cheeky tactics. Many people in the NASCAR community have been calling Logano a cheat. But his reputation has already been evened out by not one, but two legendary NASCAR racers.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr touched on this topic in an episode of Dale Jr Download. “You know you have basically no creativity or flexibility, when teams have nowhere else to look for an advantage, they are going to find these quirky little spaces to work in right, like gloves… Maybe Joey’s like I’ve been sticking my hand out the window, I’ve been doing this for you guys for several years now, what if we did something to the gloves and made it even better? Maybe Joey had this idea who knows.”
Superspeedways have been climbing the ladder of difficulty more, especially after the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022. Drivers like Joey Logano are finding more innovative ways to up their game. Let us see what ingenious trick we get to see in the next race at Las Vegas.