Richmond 2013: NASCAR’s Case Against Michael Waltrip Racing

Brian Vickers questioned the instruction coming over his radio in the closing laps at Richmond International Raceway in September 2013. Michael Waltrip Racing general manager Ty Norris, also serving as his spotter, wanted him to pit under green. “Are you talking to me?” Vickers asked. Then: “I don't understand, pit right now?” Norris answered, “You've got to pit this time. We need that one point.” Vickers came in. Two nights later, NASCAR penalized MWR for attempting to manipulate the race, taking Martin Truex Jr. out of the championship Chase and putting Ryan Newman in.

The Federated Auto Parts 400 was the last race before the Chase field was set. With seven laps remaining, Newman was leading; a victory would have secured him the final wild-card berth. Then MWR driver Clint Bowyer spun, bringing out a caution. Newman lost the lead during a slow pit stop and finished third. The spin drew immediate suspicion, but NASCAR ultimately said it could not prove Bowyer had done it intentionally.

Before Bowyer spun, his crew chief, Brian Pattie, had told him over the radio that Newman was going to win. “Well, that kind of sucks,” Bowyer replied. Pattie then asked, “Is your arm starting to hurt? I bet it's hot in there. Itch it.” Bowyer denied deliberately spinning and offered an uncertain explanation: “I think we had a flat tyre or something.” He also said Dale Earnhardt Jr. had made contact with him before the car snapped around.

The late pit stops changed another part of the qualifying calculation. Bowyer and Vickers dropped behind Joey Logano, helping Logano reach 10th in the regular-season points standings and qualify directly for the Chase. That freed the wild-card berth for their teammate Truex. When Vickers asked whether his crew had found anything wrong with his tire, Norris replied, “I'll see you after the race, Brian, I owe you a kiss.”

NASCAR President Mike Helton pointed to the Norris-Vickers exchange in explaining the team's punishment. Norris had confirmed the conversation, Helton said. The ruling covered the organization rather than a proven intentional spin by one driver. “There's a lot of chatter, there's the video that shows a car spinning, but we didn't see anything conclusive that that was intentional,” Helton said of Bowyer.

NASCAR fined MWR $300,000, indefinitely suspended Norris and deducted 50 driver points and 50 owner points from each of its three cars. The deductions applied to the regular-season totals. Truex lost the wild-card berth to Newman, while Bowyer entered the Chase without a points disadvantage.

Team founder and co-owner Michael Waltrip acknowledged that Norris had called Vickers to pit to help a teammate qualify. He described it as a “split-second decision” and apologized to NASCAR, competitors, partners and fans. “We regret the decision and its impact,” Waltrip said, while pledging continued support for Norris.

Truex said he had known nothing about the events involving his teammates and learned of Bowyer's spin only after the race. His seventh-place finish had appeared to be enough to secure a championship opportunity. The team's penalty took it away. “Honestly I had no idea,” he said. “I raced my ass off all night long, that's all I can do.”