NASCAR’s course of action against Austin Dillon was indeed unprecedented following his actions at Richmond Raceway this season. The RCR driver took out Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to secure his playoff qualification. But this wasn’t the first time that the officials found themselves in a tricky spot in delivering justice after teams resorted to unfair means and tactics.

It seems that drivers and teams have resorted to dirty tactics ever since the playoff format was implemented. However, none of the incidents can precede what Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports pulled off back in 2013 when two Ford outfits fixed the result of a race, allowing Logano to advance into the Chase.

This battling between the two teams cost Jeff Gordon a playoff spot, but he was eventually redeemed by NASCAR. Fair to say, the governing body was forced into action following the match-fixing scandal. And they put the hammer down, setting a precedent by adding Jeff Gordon as the 13th driver to enter the chase. This happened after an investigation. NASCAR took an unprecedented decision to rectify the unfair result due to race manipulation.

What happened during the 2013 Richmond race?

Desperate times equal desperate measures. Team Penske and Joey Logano were in a similar position as Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports. Hoping to make the chase on the last race of the regular season. Gordon finished the race 8th, while Logano ended 22nd, but the latter was able to make the cut by a mere single point.

However, no reports confirm that it was Logano. It was Team Penske that teamed up with FRM to carry out their scheme on the racetrack. FRM driver David Gilliand was the final piece of the puzzle, playing his role by conceding his position on the racetrack. The driver of the #38 car was already instructed about the grand scheme in hopes for a similar favor in the future.

“They better pay big,” was the radio message Gilliland sent out, to which his crew replied, “It’s not the spotter, it’s the whole committee,” and following this incident NASCAR launched an investigation. It was clear that the two teams did not uphold the best interest of the sport and resorted to cheating in helping the Penske driver get to the chase. With the evidence out in the public, NASCAR took stern action and placed Penske and FRM teams on probation for the rest of the year.

This also opened the door for Jeff Gordon’s entry into the knockout stages. “We believe that there were too many things that altered the event that gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff and his team, who would have qualified. It’s just the right thing to do.” NASCAR CEO Brian France had said this in a press conference ahead of the race at Chicagoland Speedway.

However, this wasn’t the only scandal that unraveled NASCAR that year. The infamous “Spingate” sought NASCAR’s intervention during the same race, which led to bold judgment calls and equally harsh penalties.

Michael Waltrip Racing devised a plan to ensure a playoff qualification for MTJ

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Before David Gilliand handed Logano a favor, MWR scripted a crash, bringing out a late race caution that would allow their driver Martin Truex Jr. to make the chase. Clint Bowyer intentionally spun across the track, bringing out the yellow. This was followed by teammate Brian Vickers pitting under green to ensure the third MWR driver, Truex Jr., would qualify for the knockout rounds.

As a result of this race fixing, Ryan Newman lost out on making the cut for the chase. However, NASCAR wasn’t going to allow teams to tarnish the integrity of the sport and dropped the hammer on Michael Waltrip Racing. Following the investigation, the governing body docked Truex Jr. 50 driver points, stripping him of his playoff credential and giving the spot back to Newman.

Now NASCAR had deciphered the secret radio message to come to an understanding that Bowyer’s spin wasn’t accidental but intentional. “Is your arm starting to hurt? Must be hot in there.” This was the message crew chief Brian Pattie gave his driver over the radio, and next thing you know, the No. 15 Toyota spun on the racetrack. Leading to the domino effect of the things that transpired next.

Two days after the race, NASCAR announced that MWR was fined a record $300,000 for the spin, trying to manipulate the end of the race. All three crew chiefs were reprimanded and placed on probation, while Bowyer, Truex, and Vickers were each docked 50 points. The big blow was that all three teams were also docked 50 owner points.

This episode turned out to be detrimental for Michael Waltrip Racing. The team would take an exit from NASCAR racing only two years after this scandal in 2015.