According to NASCAR, Joey Logano’s left glove was webbed resulting to a penalty before the start of the Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend.
Joey Logano’s glove, which NASCAR publicly revealed on Saturday, included aerodynamic-deflecting alterations that were so blatant that they gave the impression that Logano was donning an amphibious costume during last week’s qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Logano’s left hand’s black glove contained webbing between each finger made of an unknown material. The Team Penske driver qualified second last weekend in Atlanta, and the speculation is that he had the glove modified so that he could use his hand as an aerodynamic blocker by sticking it out of his window during qualifying.
The two-time champion had to serve a pass-through penalty and ended up at the bottom of the field. Additionally, NASCAR fined him $10,000 earlier this week.
Logano was fined by NASCAR for a safety infraction, but he was also penalized for a competition infraction at the racetrack for blocking air with the webbed glove. An SFI-approved piece of safety gear was changed by the glove modification.
NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran displayed the webbed glove to members of the press at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. Moran clarified that the infraction was discovered after slow-motion video from Logano’s in-car camera was reviewed.
Although NASCAR was not informed about the glove, it was a random safety check that led to the discovery as the race organization examines in-car footage to determine a driver’s headrest height, helmet height, and cockpit movement.
“We have our safety cameras inside all the Cup cars and we review them quite often during practice and qualifying, and we look for oddities,” Moran said.
“All on driver input from last year — they want safety improved and cleaned up. We’ve done a lot of shop visits over the last two years.
“We look for head surrounds. We look for hoses going to the helmets. We look for everything in the car to make sure it’s safe and we don’t catch anything.
“A lot of the new drivers, we’ll review them as well to make sure they’re sitting in their seats properly.”
Logano was one of “about five cars” that were randomly inspected at Atlanta, according to Moran. However, NASCAR is unsure if he was wearing the same glove there the week prior at Daytona International Speedway.
In order to prevent air from entering the cockpit, drivers frequently place their hands up against the window net or in the space between the window net and the A post.
“An SFI piece of protective equipment cannot be modified in any way,” Moran said. “It’s as delivered; that’s how SFI approves it, and SFI does not approve any glove with any webbing, obviously for safety reasons.
“So the reason for that is obviously you can block more air. The drivers do put their hand up against the opening, which we’ve never really had a rule against it, but this obviously goes one step further, and this becomes not only a competition problem, it becomes a safety violation because that glove is no longer SFI approved.
“Regardless of what the material is made of, regardless of who put it on there, it’s not as delivered, it’s not as tested, and it’s an unapproved piece of SFI safety equipment.”
Moran also displayed the roof rails that were confiscated from the No. 10 and No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing cars. The car’s right side produced both pieces and the roof rails are not components from a single source; rather, they are team pieces.
“They’re a team part that is designed to be built off a CAD file, so there’s really no gray (area),” Moran said.
“They have to be built exactly to CAD. Unfortunately, we had the No. 41 and the No. 10…the right side – there are three per side; they sit in a groove on top of the greenhouse — they’re meant to sit flat.
“So the problem we had with these, and they were the exact same for both cars, you’ll see they have like a pressed mark. So that’s been pressed.
“That dent is not supposed to be there. These are supposed to be flat … and that’s not done from tightening any bolts or anything else. The head of the bolt is not that big.”
35 driver and owner points were docked to both Stewart-Haas Racing teams. Moran clarified that the only cars with the violation were nos. 10 and 41. The rest of the field along with the other two Stewart-Haas Racing cars turned out to be in compliance upon examination.
