As the old adage goes If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.
Joey Logano was originally poised to start on the outside of the front row next to Michael McDowell after qualifying second. Before Sunday’s Cup race could take off NASCAR penalized Logano after it was discovered that he altered his left glove to include webbing. This went against Rule 14.3.1.1 of the Cup Rule Book, saying that his gloves did not meet S.F.I specifications.
Logano, as the defending winner at Atlanta with a front-row starting spot, was many fans and pundit’s favorite to win the second race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup season.
In addition to starting at the back of the pack, Logano will also have to serve a pass-through penalty on the first lap of the Cup race. The once-favored driver will start the Ambetter Health 400 one lap down.
Why did Logano and the No. 22 Penske team push this boundary? They planned to have the driver use the increased surface area of his glove to block airflow from the driver’s window potentially adding 1-2 MPH.
In car shot of Joey Logano’s altered driver glove.
On the Fox Broadcast, Mike Joy described Logano’s glove as “like a baseball glove” and shared a camera angle where the alteration was clearly visible.
NASCAR will assess the cheating this week and a more severe penalty may be coming for the No. 22 Penske team.
This is a reminder that every inch counts on restrictor plate tracks where every advantage could mean the difference between leading the front pack or getting caught in the middle.
The risk didn’t pay off for the team and Logano now has to race his way through the pack, putting himself in danger of being crashed out while battling mid-tier competitors.
In a shocking turn of events, Logano’s pass-through penalty saved him from the first crash of the race, as Austin Dillon triggered a crash collecting 16 drivers at the back of the pack while Logano was currently on pit road. If the No. 22 driver didn’t have to serve this penalty he would’ve been running in that pack.
