06-24-2018, 08:15 AM
[big][big]Summary[/big][/big]
What is Spingate?
Spingate refers to the 2013 Richmond2 race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race where one of the most controversial moments in the last decade for the sport occurred. Richmond's fall race decides the Chase for the Sprint Cup field for the remainder of the season. That is, the drivers who will remain in championship contention and receive a point reset for a final ten race dash to see who can make it to the end with the most points to win the Chase and the Championship.
For 2013, there were 12 spots with 14 guys fighting it out to get in the Chase, with 10 of those spots already locked before the race began. The remaining two slots were up for grabs and those remaining four drivers either had to benefit from being in the top 10 in driver's points, or benefitting from the one remaining Wild Card spot.
The four drivers involved were:
#24 Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports Chevy)
#56 Martin Truex Jr. (Michael Waltrip Toyota)
#22 Joey Logano (Penske Racing Ford)
#39 Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy)
[big][big]What happened?[/big][/big]
As the race events played out, those four drivers were in an interesting situation.
Depending on how the locked in drivers ran, would influence who needed to try to get in via driver's points and who needed to get in via the Wild Card slot, with the Wild Card slots being reserved for drivers who were 11th to 20th in the driver's points and had at least one win.
The race was stressful for the drivers, but the race stayed fairly clean until the end.
Here's where things go downhill.
Two different deals were made to enforce some of the driver's fighting to get into the Chase made the Chase.
The #39 Ryan Newman was leading and with how things were running at that time, that would knock out the #22 & #56 cars while the #39 and #24 made it.
Suddenly, the #15 of Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota) spins! All of a sudden the car spins out and NASCAR has to throw a caution.
Many cars pit under the caution, including the #15, #39, and the #55 of Brian Vickers (Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota; this will become important in a minute...). The #39 had a slow pit stop and he dropped back to 3rd for the restart.
The #22 used the wavearound policy to get back one lap to be only one lap down after being two laps down at the time, and the #56 picked up spots on their pit stop.
Restart is a go, the #99 of Carl Edwards leads the race while another interesting thing occurred sometime after the caution (I can't recall if it happened on the restart or not). The #55 randomly pits despite already pitting under the caution. The driver was likely clueless as to why but pit because he probably thought there might have been an issue like a cut tire or a fender was bent in and causing a tire rub.
The #55 is a teammate to the #56 and the #56 passing him would give him another point in a tight points battle.
The rest of the race was uneventful with the #99 winning.
The #39 finished 3rd, but tied with the #56 in wins for the Wild Card spot which they wound up fighting for, which meant they had to go down to a tiebreaker which was based on driver's points. They tied there too which meant they looked at second place finishes, which the #56 won. The #22 won the last spot on driver's points by a single point over the #24.
#22 & #56 are in the Chase.
#24 & #39 aren't.
Well after the race, something seemed... off.
Why did the #15 spin like it did?
Why did the #15 spin while the #39 was leading?
Why did the #55 pit randomly after already pitting recently under the caution?
NASCAR immediately started to investigate what was happening and they weren't happy with what did happen.
First part of the investigation looked into the Michael Waltrip Racing cars, #15; #55; #56.
They found that Clint Bowyer (#15) and his crew chief had radio conversations discussing the #39 leading and the possibility of that leading the #56 to get knocked out of Chase contention, just two laps prior to the spin.
Then they looked at the #55 and found the spotter of the #55 had instructed driver Brian Vickers to pit, which helped the #56 in points. The #55 spotter was also the team general manager and vice president.
The #56 I don't think was ever aware or involved in these dealings.
(And honestly, I think he was clueless of it, and I'm 99% sure Brian Vickers was unaware as well.)
They couldn't conclusively prove the #15's spin was entirely intentional, but they did view the #55 being instructed to pit as fishy.
Another thing was also found, but I'm not sure if it was found while investigating the #15/#55/#56 or whatnot.
They found that Front Row Motorsports (#34/#35/#38) had asked David Gilliland (#38) to slow down and let the #22 pass them.
(Which, personal opinion here, if you have a big team like Penske having to ask a small underdog team like Front Row to let you pass them, you probably shouldn't be in the Chase in my opinion.)
It was suggested that Penske Racing had asked Front Row to let them by so the #22 would get in the Chase, but I can't say for sure the radio conversations 100% confirmed that.
NASCAR wasn't happy.
Bring on the penalties!
Michael Waltrip Racing - Dinged $300,000 in penalties. Largest fine ever handed down by NASCAR in its 67 (at the time) year history. The #55's spotter was placed on indefinite suspension from NASCAR. The #15, #55, and #56 crew chiefs were placed on probation through 12/31/13. All three cars were dinged 50 owner points as well. The #15 points penalty was effectively useless though as the Chase reset the points and the #15 started the Chase with no issue.
Clint Bowyer (#15), Brian Vickers (#55), Martin Truex Jr. (#56) - Nailed a penalty of 50 driver points. Since Brian Vickers can't earn driver's points in the series since he competed for points in the NASCAR Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series, he actually ended the year with -50 points.
Team Penske & Front Row Motorsports were placed on probation through 12/31/13.
Chase standings changed following the penalties.
The #56 was knocked out via the point penalty, putting the #39 back in.
But the #24 was still out of the Chase while the #22 was still in.
NASCAR wasn't pleased by this.
NASCAR felt Jeff Gordon and the #24 were put at a disadvantage with things out of his control so they used their power to add a Chase spot and placed him in the Chase. It was the first and only time NASCAR has done this since the Chase was added and the first and only time it was used in this format.
For the first and only time ever, the Chase had 13 drivers.
Here's some clips from Spingate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrgyDs3CfE Clint Bowyer & the #15's on-board camera view during the last few laps, featuring the radio conversations between the crew chief and driver and then the car spinning behind the #34 of David Ragan and in front of the #88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Features interviews with Clint Bowyer (#15), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88), Martin Truex Jr. (#56)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK2uRNjfrCY #15 Clint Bowyer bringing out the caution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wak3e4tng78 #38 David Gilliland's team communications related to asking David Gilliland to forfeit a position to the #22.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q86Mdzf_08M Final restart of the race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULptYjgi3vs Fox Sports discussing the penalties dealt to the Michael Waltrip Racing team and showing the Clint Bowyer spin. They also showed radio conversations of the #15 Clint Bowyer and #55 Brian Vickers cars.
[big][big]Aftermath[/big][/big]
Napa Auto Parts, who sponsored the #56 car, wasn't happy and announced they were leaving the team as a sponsor after the end of the 2013 season.
They would later sponsor Chase Elliott in the JR Motorsports #9 Chevy in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (and has since followed him back to the Sprint Cup Series with the #24 & #25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, while also sponsoring some cars in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West).
Michael Waltrip Racing had to close the #56 car. Though if I'm not mistaken, it would use it occasionally in a partnership with Identity Ventures Racing which led to the #66 Toyota.
Both Brian Vickers & Clint Bowyer would remain with the team (until Vickers had health issues that made him have to miss races) but Martin Truex Jr. was welcome to join another team. Truex Jr. would later join the Furniture Row Racing #78 Chevy.
The team would never win again (minus a non-points win with the 2015 Sprint Showdown where Clint Bowyer won the second segment).
The team ran awfully overall in 2014 and 2015.
The team would close after a part-owner left the team and purchased a stake in Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2015.
The team's demise would be the end of the last of the original trio of Toyota teams in the Sprint Cup Series. (With Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing already closing.)
BK Racing (who coincidentally formed after the demise of Red Bull Racing and purchasing their assets and race shop) would buy Michael Waltrip Racing equipment.
Brian Vickers would only drive a few races here and there in 2016 as a relief driver to Tony Stewart, while Clint Bowyer was sent to the HScott Motorsports #15 Chevy replacing Justin Allgaier (and changing the car number from #51) before that team closed after 2016 and Bowyer moved to Tony Stewart's #14.
All teams were forced to attend a meeting before the next race (Chicagoland, the first race of the 2013 Chase) regarding ethics after the two incidents of Spingate.
The Chase was changed after 2013, possibly in reaction to Spingate.
This new format prioritized wins, though racing solely on points was still a possibility.
During the first twenty-six races, if you win you are given a Chase spot out of sixteen total spots. Remaining positions are handed out to those based on driver's points. Though this hasn't happened since the new format was launched, if there aren't enough spots for all of the winners, then driver's points will help settle things.
To remain Chase eligible, you also had to attempt each race (though waivers were granted for missed races if there's good reason such as injuries) and needed to keep in the top 30 for driver's points.
Now, here's where the alternate history comes into play.
What if Bowyer and the #15 never spun?
What if Napa Auto Parts didn't stop sponsoring the team?
Did the closure of the #56 car really hurt the team that much? If they kept the team with three cars, would they have performed better?
Would Truex Jr. remain with the team after 2013 if Spingate hadn't happened?
Would the Chase format still change after 2013, or stay the same?
While Michael Waltrip Racing wasn't winning every single race, they were capable of pulling off wins. For example both Brian Vickers in the #55 and Martin Truex Jr. in the #56 won in 2013.
I think if Napa Auto Parts continued to sponsor the #56, then MWR would've kept the car running and Truex Jr. would've stayed with them.
I think Bowyer spinning was the beginning of the end and the team just slowly died off until it just had suffered so much that it finally closed in 2015.
What is Spingate?
Spingate refers to the 2013 Richmond2 race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race where one of the most controversial moments in the last decade for the sport occurred. Richmond's fall race decides the Chase for the Sprint Cup field for the remainder of the season. That is, the drivers who will remain in championship contention and receive a point reset for a final ten race dash to see who can make it to the end with the most points to win the Chase and the Championship.
For 2013, there were 12 spots with 14 guys fighting it out to get in the Chase, with 10 of those spots already locked before the race began. The remaining two slots were up for grabs and those remaining four drivers either had to benefit from being in the top 10 in driver's points, or benefitting from the one remaining Wild Card spot.
The four drivers involved were:
#24 Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports Chevy)
#56 Martin Truex Jr. (Michael Waltrip Toyota)
#22 Joey Logano (Penske Racing Ford)
#39 Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy)
[big][big]What happened?[/big][/big]
As the race events played out, those four drivers were in an interesting situation.
Depending on how the locked in drivers ran, would influence who needed to try to get in via driver's points and who needed to get in via the Wild Card slot, with the Wild Card slots being reserved for drivers who were 11th to 20th in the driver's points and had at least one win.
The race was stressful for the drivers, but the race stayed fairly clean until the end.
Here's where things go downhill.
Two different deals were made to enforce some of the driver's fighting to get into the Chase made the Chase.
The #39 Ryan Newman was leading and with how things were running at that time, that would knock out the #22 & #56 cars while the #39 and #24 made it.
Suddenly, the #15 of Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota) spins! All of a sudden the car spins out and NASCAR has to throw a caution.
Many cars pit under the caution, including the #15, #39, and the #55 of Brian Vickers (Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota; this will become important in a minute...). The #39 had a slow pit stop and he dropped back to 3rd for the restart.
The #22 used the wavearound policy to get back one lap to be only one lap down after being two laps down at the time, and the #56 picked up spots on their pit stop.
Restart is a go, the #99 of Carl Edwards leads the race while another interesting thing occurred sometime after the caution (I can't recall if it happened on the restart or not). The #55 randomly pits despite already pitting under the caution. The driver was likely clueless as to why but pit because he probably thought there might have been an issue like a cut tire or a fender was bent in and causing a tire rub.
The #55 is a teammate to the #56 and the #56 passing him would give him another point in a tight points battle.
The rest of the race was uneventful with the #99 winning.
The #39 finished 3rd, but tied with the #56 in wins for the Wild Card spot which they wound up fighting for, which meant they had to go down to a tiebreaker which was based on driver's points. They tied there too which meant they looked at second place finishes, which the #56 won. The #22 won the last spot on driver's points by a single point over the #24.
#22 & #56 are in the Chase.
#24 & #39 aren't.
Well after the race, something seemed... off.
Why did the #15 spin like it did?
Why did the #15 spin while the #39 was leading?
Why did the #55 pit randomly after already pitting recently under the caution?
NASCAR immediately started to investigate what was happening and they weren't happy with what did happen.
First part of the investigation looked into the Michael Waltrip Racing cars, #15; #55; #56.
They found that Clint Bowyer (#15) and his crew chief had radio conversations discussing the #39 leading and the possibility of that leading the #56 to get knocked out of Chase contention, just two laps prior to the spin.
Then they looked at the #55 and found the spotter of the #55 had instructed driver Brian Vickers to pit, which helped the #56 in points. The #55 spotter was also the team general manager and vice president.
The #56 I don't think was ever aware or involved in these dealings.
(And honestly, I think he was clueless of it, and I'm 99% sure Brian Vickers was unaware as well.)
They couldn't conclusively prove the #15's spin was entirely intentional, but they did view the #55 being instructed to pit as fishy.
Another thing was also found, but I'm not sure if it was found while investigating the #15/#55/#56 or whatnot.
They found that Front Row Motorsports (#34/#35/#38) had asked David Gilliland (#38) to slow down and let the #22 pass them.
(Which, personal opinion here, if you have a big team like Penske having to ask a small underdog team like Front Row to let you pass them, you probably shouldn't be in the Chase in my opinion.)
It was suggested that Penske Racing had asked Front Row to let them by so the #22 would get in the Chase, but I can't say for sure the radio conversations 100% confirmed that.
NASCAR wasn't happy.
Bring on the penalties!
Michael Waltrip Racing - Dinged $300,000 in penalties. Largest fine ever handed down by NASCAR in its 67 (at the time) year history. The #55's spotter was placed on indefinite suspension from NASCAR. The #15, #55, and #56 crew chiefs were placed on probation through 12/31/13. All three cars were dinged 50 owner points as well. The #15 points penalty was effectively useless though as the Chase reset the points and the #15 started the Chase with no issue.
Clint Bowyer (#15), Brian Vickers (#55), Martin Truex Jr. (#56) - Nailed a penalty of 50 driver points. Since Brian Vickers can't earn driver's points in the series since he competed for points in the NASCAR Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series, he actually ended the year with -50 points.
Team Penske & Front Row Motorsports were placed on probation through 12/31/13.
Chase standings changed following the penalties.
The #56 was knocked out via the point penalty, putting the #39 back in.
But the #24 was still out of the Chase while the #22 was still in.
NASCAR wasn't pleased by this.
NASCAR felt Jeff Gordon and the #24 were put at a disadvantage with things out of his control so they used their power to add a Chase spot and placed him in the Chase. It was the first and only time NASCAR has done this since the Chase was added and the first and only time it was used in this format.
For the first and only time ever, the Chase had 13 drivers.
Here's some clips from Spingate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrgyDs3CfE Clint Bowyer & the #15's on-board camera view during the last few laps, featuring the radio conversations between the crew chief and driver and then the car spinning behind the #34 of David Ragan and in front of the #88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Features interviews with Clint Bowyer (#15), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88), Martin Truex Jr. (#56)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK2uRNjfrCY #15 Clint Bowyer bringing out the caution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wak3e4tng78 #38 David Gilliland's team communications related to asking David Gilliland to forfeit a position to the #22.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q86Mdzf_08M Final restart of the race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULptYjgi3vs Fox Sports discussing the penalties dealt to the Michael Waltrip Racing team and showing the Clint Bowyer spin. They also showed radio conversations of the #15 Clint Bowyer and #55 Brian Vickers cars.
[big][big]Aftermath[/big][/big]
Napa Auto Parts, who sponsored the #56 car, wasn't happy and announced they were leaving the team as a sponsor after the end of the 2013 season.
They would later sponsor Chase Elliott in the JR Motorsports #9 Chevy in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (and has since followed him back to the Sprint Cup Series with the #24 & #25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, while also sponsoring some cars in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West).
Michael Waltrip Racing had to close the #56 car. Though if I'm not mistaken, it would use it occasionally in a partnership with Identity Ventures Racing which led to the #66 Toyota.
Both Brian Vickers & Clint Bowyer would remain with the team (until Vickers had health issues that made him have to miss races) but Martin Truex Jr. was welcome to join another team. Truex Jr. would later join the Furniture Row Racing #78 Chevy.
The team would never win again (minus a non-points win with the 2015 Sprint Showdown where Clint Bowyer won the second segment).
The team ran awfully overall in 2014 and 2015.
The team would close after a part-owner left the team and purchased a stake in Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2015.
The team's demise would be the end of the last of the original trio of Toyota teams in the Sprint Cup Series. (With Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing already closing.)
BK Racing (who coincidentally formed after the demise of Red Bull Racing and purchasing their assets and race shop) would buy Michael Waltrip Racing equipment.
Brian Vickers would only drive a few races here and there in 2016 as a relief driver to Tony Stewart, while Clint Bowyer was sent to the HScott Motorsports #15 Chevy replacing Justin Allgaier (and changing the car number from #51) before that team closed after 2016 and Bowyer moved to Tony Stewart's #14.
All teams were forced to attend a meeting before the next race (Chicagoland, the first race of the 2013 Chase) regarding ethics after the two incidents of Spingate.
The Chase was changed after 2013, possibly in reaction to Spingate.
This new format prioritized wins, though racing solely on points was still a possibility.
During the first twenty-six races, if you win you are given a Chase spot out of sixteen total spots. Remaining positions are handed out to those based on driver's points. Though this hasn't happened since the new format was launched, if there aren't enough spots for all of the winners, then driver's points will help settle things.
To remain Chase eligible, you also had to attempt each race (though waivers were granted for missed races if there's good reason such as injuries) and needed to keep in the top 30 for driver's points.
Now, here's where the alternate history comes into play.
What if Bowyer and the #15 never spun?
What if Napa Auto Parts didn't stop sponsoring the team?
Did the closure of the #56 car really hurt the team that much? If they kept the team with three cars, would they have performed better?
Would Truex Jr. remain with the team after 2013 if Spingate hadn't happened?
Would the Chase format still change after 2013, or stay the same?
While Michael Waltrip Racing wasn't winning every single race, they were capable of pulling off wins. For example both Brian Vickers in the #55 and Martin Truex Jr. in the #56 won in 2013.
I think if Napa Auto Parts continued to sponsor the #56, then MWR would've kept the car running and Truex Jr. would've stayed with them.
I think Bowyer spinning was the beginning of the end and the team just slowly died off until it just had suffered so much that it finally closed in 2015.