NASCAR’s Blatant HMS Favoritism on Display as a Desperate Joey Logano Gets Snubbed for the Poster Boy

With just five laps to go the largest recorded “Big One” unfolded at the YellaWood 500, engulfing 28 cars. The Talladega turmoil once again brought the organization’s Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) under scrutiny. Following the crash, most of those cars sat for longer than expected during the red flag period, including Joey Logano. NASCAR tested Team Penske’s driver’s patience along with others while Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe were towed back to their pit boxes.

This was done despite the ruling that cars that are out of power and unable to roll out would be put out of the race. Logano, understandably was left frustrated when he shared his thoughts after the race. his premature exit means he sits outside the cut-off line ahead of the elimination race at  Charlotte Motor Speedway. This situation also left an Xfinity veteran baffled.

Logano’s pleas were ignored as he watched Elliot’s car get picked

Team Penske was in a position to notch good spots on Sunday. They paced the field 19 different times all throughout the YellaWood 500. Austin Cindric led a race-high 29 laps, won Stage 2, and was in contention to win the race. Joey Logano was running fifth on lap 183; only Ryan Blaney got knocked out earlier. But the massive wreck buried both Logano and Cindric’s chances while Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was also caught in it, however, his car was apparently the first one to be picked away to the pit and was allowed back on.

This controversial decision to sideline the damaged cars of Joey Logano and others while Elliott got the upper hand baffled people, including Kenny Wallace. The Xfinity veteran described the dramatic situation in a Dale Jr. Download episode.

Filling in for Dale Jr. on the October 8 episode, Wallace said, “We have a 28-car wreck, and Joey Logano’s in-car camera, he’s screaming through his helmet. ‘Pick me up! Get me going!’ It’s like a Mad Max movie where there’s only one gallon of gas left in the world and everybody’s fighting over that…so the whole field wants to be towed in. And in front of Joey Logano’s in-car camera is Noah Gragson just obliterating his motor…He’s trying to get his car out of the grass.” 

Then Wallace added how Rick Hendrick’s golden boy was the chosen one: “Guess whose car they picked up pretty much first? …(the No. 9).”  Elliott was pushed back to the pits for his team to attempt to put his vehicle back into a race car shape. Moreover, Chase Briscoe had lengthy negotiations with track officials, was towed back but still allowed work on his vehicle, and returned to the race, both drivers would finish six laps down.

This decision could also be considered surprising given what NASCAR’s DVP. The policy was introduced to prevent cars from going back onto the track when they honestly shouldn’t be there, in hopes of keeping cars that are off-pace from re-entering. Teams are allotted a limited amount of time to make repairs in the pits. After racing against the clock, their damaged car must go and meet the minimum speed on the track, or the car can no longer race.

Further NASCAR’s decision at Talladega went against recent precedent and towed damaged cars back to the pits, giving teams the chance to work on them. We saw Ryan Blaney being removed from the race at Watkins Glen after being involved in a first-lap crash.

Wallace also empathized with Elton Sawyer, who was probably not so happy to see this happening. “We got guys that spin out, and now this is the perfect storm – the tow truck driver picks up Chase Elliott, our most popular driver after Dale Jr retired. This is bad optics, and you know Elton is going, ‘Oh my gosh. Could you have please just picked somebody else?'” 

Elliott is often viewed as NASCAR’s most popular driver and the decision to have his car picked first will raise some eyebrows. Interestingly, the two cars that got towed belonged to playoff contenders. While Joey Logano landed a 13-point deficit, Elliott still has comfort with a 13-point cushion above the cut line. Logano had his say after the race and he wasn’t happy with how things unfolded.

“It’s kind of comical. I got out of the car and see a bunch of cars after a red flag where we’ve been sitting there for 10 minutes, and everyone’s just hoping they can roll a little bit. It’s just goofy,” he said. Even race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s crew chief, Mike Kelley was left confused.

He said, “I don’t think I’ve seen them turn the yellow flag on and allow guys to work on cars while other guys are just sitting there.” As for Sawyer, he shared an explanation as to why they allowed Elliott and Briscoe to continue.

The Senior Vice President of Competition said, “On the heels of last week at Kansas, you know our goal was never to put good cars out of the race…So as we went into Talladega, we wanted to make sure that we erred on the side of the competitors. We didn’t anticipate seeing 25+ cars down there … That’s why we made the decision to tow the two to pit road that we did. The No. 9 [Chase Elliott] and No. 14 [Chase Briscoe] – both of those cars met minimum speed so we felt like that was the right call to make.”

Sawyer revealed that NASCAR will review the DVP during the off-season. Meanwhile, despite having his car picked second, Chase Briscoe was left scratching his head.

Mass confusion followed the wreck

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Well, when you register a 28-car wreck for the first time in NASCAR history, things may get awry. As Brad Keselowski hit Austin Cindric in the rear and sent him pinballing, fans held their breath. The four-wide racing pack quickly turned into a massive pile of rubble and smoke. It altered the fortunes of nearly half of the 11 drivers racing for the final seven spots in the next round. It also altered NASCAR’s smooth decision-making process—officials were in a fix about how to tow all the cars back.

Yet even as Chase Briscoe was NASCAR’s choice for the pit road trip, the No. 14 Ford driver scratched his head at the utter confusion that ensued following the wreck. “We had 10 different stories of what to do between they’re going to do the air jacks and then you had to get out, then they’re going to push you and then they were going to tow you, then they’re going to push you again. It just constantly kept changing.”  He continued, “The guys working the crash they’re at the mercy of whatever they get told, so I know they’re doing everything they can but definitely probably need to figure out just a better way to do that.”

The Talladega wreck brought out several unknowns. From sidelining Joey Logano to confusing Chase Briscoe, NASCAR had a hard time appeasing drivers. Hopefully, this precedent will pave the path for smoother times.