SPINGATE

2013 was a vital season for all of nascar with the introduction of their new generation six stock car there was also quite a bit of change during the silly season heading into the 2013 year with the most notable changes being matt kenseth and joey logano both vacating their rides to join new teams for the 2013 season people like kurt busch ricky stennis jr and roger penske all face drastic changes for the 2013 season as well however on one fateful late summer night in richmond all of these changes would be eclipsed by one event so big it changed the landscape and face of nascar for years to come spin gate [Music] september 7th 2013 the last race before the chase at richmond anticipation is mounting for the 400 lap event points leader jimmy johnson has been easily one of the best drivers all year winning the daytona 500 and maintaining the points lead for virtually the whole season up to this point jimmy however seemed like he's been cruise control as of late with an average finish of 25th in the previous five races leading up into richmond this has allowed for second place points competitor clint boyer to close in on the points lead boyer who is arguably coming off of one of the best seasons of his career is looking to finally become a consistent championship competitor in 2013 with michael waltrip racing however boyer has not yet won a race in 2013 and coming into richmond the very race he won last year is hoping to build some momentum that will carry him into the 10 race chase spring winner of the richmond event in 2013 and boyer's old teammate is third place points holder kevin harvick harvard who has been very consistent all year and is currently in the last year of his contract with richard childress racing may be pursuing a new ride at season's end the driver tied with harvick third in points is carl edwards edwards who broke a long winless streak with his win at phoenix international raceway earlier in the season is looking to build some momentum heading into the chase where he hopes to claim his first championship meanwhile kyle bush who coming into this race is the most recent winner in atlanta the previous week and is one of the most winningest drivers at richmond claiming the spring race in four consecutive seasons he's looking for his fifth one of the season which would place him as the number one seed for the chase if he were to win at richmond he would be tied with the most wins on the season at five with matt kenseth kenseth who moved from his old team the number 17 roush team in pursuit for greener pastures has taken over the iconic number 20 for joe gibbs racing kenseth is trying for a second championship of his career and a win tonight would give him a career-high sixth win on the season behind him in points as fellow 2000 rookie of the year competitor dale earnhardt jr jr who currently sits seventh in points coming into richmond is the first driver not locked into the chase however all dale needs to do to guarantee himself a chase berth is to finish 33rd or better and no matter what he will make the chase behind him is 8th and points joey logano joey who is at a new team in 2013 and has claimed the victory already this year at michigan he is solidly in the top 10 points and will be able to use bonus points for when the chase starts because of that win the ghana is relatively safe to make the chase as long as nothing catastrophic happens the only thing he is racing for is to maintain those bonus points for his win and to not have to rely on a wild card spot behind him in ninth is greg biffle who is basically in the same spot as legano though it was unlikely for him to miss the chase it could happen but it would need to take a catastrophe tenth in the standings and the last driver in on points is kurt bush kurt who is racing for the denver based furniture roll racing team is trying to help get this single car team into the chase for the first time although kurt is in at the moment any mistake could cost him his chase birth therefore is critical for kurt to go out and perform tonight only six points behind him is jeff gordon gordon who only made the chase last year by a singular point is once again in a fight to the wire to try and make the chase gordon has only missed the chase once in his career back in 2005 and in 2013 if things don't go the right way he could miss it for only the second time ever in his illustrious career behind him in 12th is his teammate casey kane kane who is locked in with two wins is the only driver holding a wild card spot with two victories at the moment although that could change tonight kane can't fall out of the top 20 points and he can't fall out of a wild card position making the only thing kane is racing for tonight is to get into the top 10 in points to start the chase with an additional 6 points 13th in points and holding the last chase spot with the second wildcard berth is martin sharok's jr truax claimed the victory this year at sonoma and has been in a fight all season to keep himself in the second wildcard spot he has to hold off ryan newman the winner from indianapolis who comes into richmond only five points behind him a win tonight would solve either one of these drivers problems and trying to make the chases it would automatically leap frog them into the second wildcard berth however they have to worry about one driver named brad keselowski one of the last drivers with a mathematical shot to make the chase all brad needs to do is win and have bad fortune be bestowed upon martin tricks jr and ryan newman from to possibly steal the last chase birth tonight 15 drivers vying for 12 chase births with only seven of them previously locked in the stakes couldn't be any chase at higher this green the race goes green right after sundown with jeff gordon and kurt bush on the front row gordon is confident that he can pull off a victory tonight and easily clinch himself a chase birth while kurt busch believes he can do the same also gordon pulls away and leads the opening laps gaining a bonus point for leading a lap kurt bush fades to fourth in the opening run as brad kazowski begins to charge his way up to second and begins to start stalking jeff gordon for the lead the leaders will soon come up on the points leader jimmy johnson to lap johnson who missed all of practice and qualifying to be present for the birth of his second child had to go to the rear for a driver change and is struggling greatly with the handling of his car martin trucks jr and ryan newman are contently battling each other even though as they run right now with gordon's victory it would knock them out of the chase however things would change as coming to complete lap 50 brad kozlowski would take the lead from jeff gordon and begin to pull away as gordon loses a lead he loses his chase spot and begins to fade through the field dropping outside the top five however he would not fade nearly as fast as joey logano who has fallen outside the top 20 is at risk to lose his top 10 points position legano was relatively safe from falling from the top 10 but if he does have to rely on that wild card spot that would take it away from the newman shruex battle who are currently vying for that last spot things at the front would change again at lap 66 as kurt busch takes the lead from brad keselowski kurt would lead all the way up to the first round of green flag pit stops starting around lap 90. legano who at the end of that run was in a free fall through the field attempts a high risk strategy decision by pitting early in the cycle to try and take advantage of fresh tires to regain his lost laps to leaders the way this strategy is a success is if a caution comes out right when the cycle ends guaranteeing legato on the lead lap the way this strategy goes awry is if a caution comes out between the time legano pits and the leaders bit which could trap legano two or even three laps down legano pits on lap 90 with kurt busch pitting five laps later the cycle finally ends at around lap 97 with brad kazowski retaking the lead and legano back in the lead lap in the top 20. shortly after pit stops matt kenseth takes the lead from kozlowski and begins to try and pull away but only five laps later kurt bush chases down kenseth and retakes the lead he lost during the pit stops as of this moment 110 laps into the race joey logano is still holding on to a top 10 points position but by only three points over jeff gordon gordon who is currently running 12th is trying to race his way back into the top 10 to guarantee his chase spot legano who was once again falling back fast is hoping for a caution as leaders inch close to lapping him once again as the leaders come up to lap lagano kurt busch nearly sees his race and chance at a chase and as he is put in a bad situation lapping between the 55 and 38. on lap 130 kirk bush once again laps joey legano putting him one lap down and now in the lucky dog position finally on lap 135 the first caution comes out for debris in turn three about two laps before the caution came out david gillin was lapped by leader kurt bush which knocked legano out of the lucky dog position and trapping him one lap down for the time being during the pit stops kurt busch would lose the lead and fall all the way back to sixth jeff gordon would gain three spots and move into the top ten in the race and in points kurt losing the five spots on the pit lane would show his displeasure on the radio then immediately take it three wide up the middle in the turn one as the run went on and kozlowski would claim the lead once again legano will be pushed back into the second wild card spot and brad kozlowski would only be 12 points away from taking a chase birth away from his teammate however even though kazulowski is close to legano on points now legano is running 26th therefore something major still needs to happen to legano for brad to make it in as the grieved flag run went on kurt busch continued to work his way through the field as jeff gordon would once again fall fade back outside the top 10. as jeff gordon would continue to fade and fall back out to the top 10 in points he would say on the radio to his crew that his car was the worst it has been all race and that the car was extremely tight at the midway point of the race legano finds himself in the top ten in points but at risk of going a second lap down to get brad keselowski jeff gordon meanwhile rides in 15th with a fading short run car with martin shurick's junior two positions behind him joey would eventually go a second lap down to his teammate as kirk bush continued to chase down kozlowski for the lead however a caution would come out when david schreme would go spinning off of turn four saving kozlowski's lead and trapping logano now two laps down and making it even more difficult to gain positions and points for the top 10 in points during the pit stops under caution kurt busch's crew would finally perform and regain him the lead from kozlowski gordon would maintain the position he came in at in 16th martin shrek jr would restart three points behind newman for the final wild card spot newman meanwhile is hoping logano runs well enough to gain himself the top 10 points position and not steal the wild card position away from him on the restart at lap 215 mcmurray would hit a water bottle that was sitting low on the racetrack and launch it into the air kozlowski and kurt busch would continue the battle as jimmy johnson would have more problems as his alternator would start burning up this would make jimmy lose the points lead and stump his momentum even more heading into the chase then a huge moment in the race would occur jeff gordon would pit under green from the 21st place position with problems gordon would not explain the reasoning as he called on the radio to alan gustafsson that he was pitting claiming that he needed to come in gordon would change four tires and pull back onto the track appearing as if his hopes to make the chase have come to an end as gordon would race by the leaders and put himself only one lap down the crew reported the problem was a loose wheel on the right front in order for gordon to make the chase he would need to pull the same miracle comeback he did the year prior however the situation looked bleak on the other hand now the situation was clear for newman and sherex they had to beat one another in points and hope keselowski didn't win the race and take the final chase berth from him with a 160 laps to go at richmond kane and keselowski are in the final two wild card spots with kozlowski only being seven points out of the top ten as the battle for the lead rages on to under 140 to go gordon with those fresh tires starts picking his way through the field again meanwhile newman holds down the last chase spot running ninth taking it away from truex as soon as the battle for the lead starts to pick up again a caution for debris on the backstretch is called to bring out the third yellow of the race coincidentally enough the caution came out as soon as jeff gordon passed brian vickers to become the lucky dog driver putting him now back on the lead lap in less than 50 laps jeff gordon had raced his way back onto the lead lap from two down with those fresh tires and a little help from nascar during the yellow flag pit stops clint boyer's crew does a phenomenal job and takes the lead from both kozlowski and bush after the restart boyer begins to pull away from the field with the lead taking it away from koslowski and knocking kozlowski back outside the chase once again the battle is on between newman and sherex with newman slowly working his way closer and closer to the front of the field as the race got later and later meanwhile truex has been riding around in the 17th position all race and has now worked his way up to the 11th place position trying to race his way past newman in points and grab his the last chase spot with just over 100 laps to go on the race kane who has worked himself now up to just outside the top 10 in the race is now only five points from knocking legato out of the top ten and his teammate gordon is only seven back of the top ten newman still has three points over truex as they run right now with 80 laps to go gordon has worked his way up to the 16th place position only six points back of the top 10. kane his teammate is now tied with gordon points and is running 11th on track legano runs 25th and can't get any higher due to being trapped two laps down newman who is currently two points ahead of truex for the final chase spot is running seventh while trucks runs 14th kozlowski has faded out of being an equation in the chase bubble in the last 20 laps due to a hard race with kevyn harvick where kozlowski attained some minor damage and over heated his tires with under just 70 to go business begins to pick up as harvick and kurt busch begin to close on boyer for the race lead meanwhile newman has fallen back to eighth place and gordon has worked his way all the way up to 14th pushing martin sherice jr back to 17th with 63 laps to go green flag pit stops begin and with 59 to go the first of the top three cars pit with clint boyer and kevin harvick coming down the pit lane jeff gordon follows the two leaders and as soon as they hit the pit road jimmy johnson blows a tire and brings out a caution completely tossing this race upside down under incredibly lucky circumstances the way timing and scoring came out jeff gordon was scored as the lucky dog and was allowed to get back on the lee lap under the caution all the drivers come in thinking that this was very likely their last stop many cars take the wave around to get back in the lead lap as we get ready to go green with now carl edwards leading the race now the picture for the chase is becoming clear gordon and newman both have fast cars compared to the drivers in front of them if newman passes a few cars he passes truex and points but if gordon passes a few cars he knocks legano out of 10th in points and into a wild card taking the last berth from newman and shruex right now legano has trapped a lap down in 25th with only one more position in david gillin to gain now truex and newman race through the field passing cars and gaining points one lap newman passes biffle the next sure expresses stem house the next newman passes menard now gordon through the next ten laps gets up to eighth and pushes logano out into the wild guard now newman knows what he need to do win and probably one of the most impressive drives to finish a race newman carves through menard for third tracks down the dominant car of the day kurt busch for second and sets his sight on karl edwards with 25 to go if newman pulls this off he knocks legano out of the chase at the beginning of the night it would take an incredible scenario to have legato completely miss the chase now what's happening truex is now told with 20 laps to go to not let gordon buy and gordon is trying to gain insurance points newman needs to track down edwards to get into the chase ryan was told in july of 2013 that he would be let go from the team at stuart haas the team throughout the summer didn't lay down they kept fighting with a win at indy and now with a drive to make the chase that would be one of the greatest comeback feats in chase cut line history all he has to do is pass carl edwards as tony stewart watches on with 11 laps to go newman applies the pressure last time here he is he's there ten laps to go in the race to the chase newman trying to squeeze ahead of carl edwards he got him out of the lead the drive to make the chase has been complete everything the 39 team had been fighting for has been fulfilled the story that this team and this night has been for gordon and newman the incredible drives that these two drivers went through in the last 100 laps trying to come back through adversity and through hardship it's finally paying off newman is going to drive his way to the chase and jeff gordon is going to squeak his way in over legano by only two points but then caution flag is out things change again wow at first the replay shows that maybe dale jr had turned the 15. but with no second view and now the concentration in the field pitting nobody can tell what happened many people take two tires and newman drops back along with gordon the point shovel as chaos engulfs the cut line with five to go now paul menard leads the field the cut line coming to the green is a single point between gordon and legano the same deficit gordon made the chase with last year newman needs to go from fifth to first in only three laps to get the last berth and gordon to not get passed legano however takes the wave around put himself in position to be able to pass more cars for points three cars that legano can pass for points and three laps decide the cut line edwards beats menard on the start and drives away to victory newman can't get to the lead as gordon falls out by one point and truex barely skirts in in front of newman and with that the chase field is set 12 drivers ready to race for 10 races to decide the championship many of the incredible story lines about comebacks between jeff gordon and ryan newman are stumped martin shrek's junior holds on to his chase spot and joey logano will keep his three bonus points heading into the first race at chicagoland controversy already begins to fill the air as discussions swirl over carlo edwards possibly jumping the start however the wind still stands edwards does a backflip and the commentators sit in silence as they try to take in what exactly happened in the last 10 laps the last wild card spot is determined in a tiebreaker with truex getting it over newman the difference of emotions is shown on tv between the joy of legano and truex and the disappointment of ryan newman interviews and congratulations get under way as reporters talk to truex and legano who less than 20 minutes ago were all but dead in the water to make it until the late race caution after victory lane interviews and a commercial break we returned with a review of the replay of the incident that changed the complexion of the chase with dale jr and clint boyer it's quickly realized that boyer was never touched by junior and that he self-spun off the corner then alan bestwick says so the clint boyer spin basically created circumstances that allowed his michael waltrip racing teammate martin truax to get in because the pit stops you heard ryan newman talk about how carl edwards got four tires and got off pit road ahead of him and the speculation begins also at this time second place could never beat first back to the line on restarts which is what edwards did if nascar had black flag in the 99 it would once again change the outcome of the chase with everyone in points moving up one spot after more interviews and commercials nearly 20 minutes after the race hack included espn placed this on the broadcast and i bet it's hot in there then this interview well clint we just watched some of the replays and we heard the radio and people that hear that radio somebody asking you if your arms hurt or if the car is getting hot they're going to want to know did you spin on purpose to help your teammate no i think we had a flat tire or something i mean we went from leading the race and got back there and i mean they were driving off from us um i got down in there it kept getting tighter and tighter and tighter and then the 88 got in there and and by the time i got back to the gas he got into me and i had so much wheel and it just snapped around but just sucks i mean the whole weekend was was looking good we led got caught in the pits that's the third week in a row we were leading and had a shot at legitimate shot at at wynn and just got caught in the pits again and wasn't our night you never want to be you know that guy and unfortunately uh change some things up there at the end i'm super proud of patty and everybody for giving me another great race car is capable of winning and you know we got to get this bad luck behind us but nonetheless we're running well and i feel like we're still you know contending um you know a car capable of continuing for a championship and it is a night for celebration you make the chase again with this team kind of hard to celebrate with all this stuff going on but you know you'll we'll get this behind us and and go on um you know it's been a long year it's crazy to think that all this comes down to the end every year here at richmond but it does a bunch of cars racing back there for for everything um you know it's it's unfortunate that some some good cars had to lose this deal because you know they're plenty capable of winning a championship i mean i'm telling you in this sport right now i think 14 to 15 cars had a legitimate shot given a roll or whatever to win a championship but one our night again hopefully it'll be our night soon then this interview with dale jr makes the situation look even worse and that spin by clint boyer cost uh dale earnhardt junior's teammate jeff gordon a chance to get in a chase junior you were behind the 15. uh what did you see uh he just uh spun right out it's craziest thing i ever saw thing just came right around um he got we were going into the through three and uh four and and i don't know if they could put up his brakes and his gas we got all that uh technology and uh but he was hamming around on the brakes and jerking the car around and then thing just spun out it was crazy i don't know what was going on but uh he's right there i almost run into him so i'm just glad we were we were able to get out of there with no trouble controversy is beating the run rampant throughout the nascar community as more and more of it continued to flare up and now evidence of a similar situation between legano and the 38 team adds even more chaos to an out of control situation that nascar needed to contain the following day nascar announced that it was reviewing the events from the previous night and that a statement would be made when a decision was reached by monday nascar launched a full-blown investigation on the whole situation involving michael waltrip racing on the same monday ryan newman announced his 2014 driving plans by saying he will be driving for richard childress racing in a statement newman still expressed displeasure over the events at richmond by saying it's one of the hardest things he's ever gone through in his 30-year career later on that day nascar made their announcement now mwr was busted for actions detrimental to stock car racing all three cars the 15 the 55 and the 56 penalized with 50 driver and owner points nascar fined all mwr teams 50 driver and owner points and suspended indefinitely team vice president and manager ty norris for violating section 12-4 of the rule book the team was also fined three hundred thousand dollars and all crew chiefs for the team were put on probation till the end of the year with all that ryan newman was now in the chase and all the benefits martin trucks gained from the race manipulation were erased everyone thought this what mess was all over until on wednesday of that week rick hendrick the car owner to jeff gordon made the claim that jeff gordon his driver was robbed of a chase spot many people had forgotten about the whole legano gordon race and how logano had almost been out of the chase and gordon was in as well the mwr cars had also organized a plan to have their cars pull off the track to give points to legano on the restart to help him get ahead of gordon and ensure the last wild card spot went to truax also many had forgotten about the controversial talks that were happening between the penske and front row teams trying to have the 38 let the 22 buy also on that same wednesday as michael waltrip was defending his organization on the racehub most of his sponsors were re-evaluating their relationship with the team and if they wanted to continue supporting the organization also on twitter martin shreks jr who was taking just as much flack for the situation as anyone else on the team claimed that he was unaware of the situation that was going on at the time and that he just wanted to move on from everything on thursday gordon showed even more frustration with nascar's monday decision after more evidence of boyer and vickers came out showing them letting joey logano buy on the restart giving legano two more points nascar also reported that it was now investigating the negotiations between the number 38 and 22 teams then on friday as practice was beginning for the first chase race at chicago nascar ruled that jeff gordon would be put in the chase and that front row and penske would be all placed on probation through the end of the year gordon would be added as an unprecedented 13th car in the chase and then all investigations would be concluded michael waltrip racing would never recover from the events that took place as napa would leave the team as a sponsor and the team eventually shut down at the conclusion of 2015. martin shreks jr was let go from the team at the end of 2013 due to no sponsorship and moved over to the number 78 team the same team that kurt bush raced his way into the chase with in 2013. however that the pairing struggled through much of the 2014 season until 2015 where truax helped lead the team on a daring championship run and helped claim the team's first victory since regan smith in 2011 since mwr was shutting down at the end of 2015 toyota decided to dump support into the number 78 team and closely affiliate them with the top toyota team at the time joe gibbs racing truax throughout the years of 2016 to 2020 has been a top-level driver winning on average about five races a year and being a consistent championship threat since truex also in that time has claimed the 2017 nascar cup series championship clint boyer his teammate at the time of the spin gate incident hasn't found the success post controversy that truex has had boyer left the mwr team when it shut down in 2015 and spent 2016 driving for h scott motorsports another team that would be shutting down at the end of that season boyer however did get a contract with stuart haas to replace the retiring tony stewart but since spin gate he has only claimed two career victories and has not really been a championship factor in the last four years ryan newman left his team at stuart austin 2013 and moved to the number 31 at richard childress racing newman didn't get a win until 2017 but in the year following the spin game incident newman finished second in the championship to the car he drove for the previous year kevin harvick who moved to the number 39 team which was later renumbered to the 4 and he claimed his first championship in 2014. newman is now at roush in the number six and survived a horrific crash in the last slap of this year's daytona 500. joey logano continued to have success with his penske team winning the 2015 daytona 500 and the 2018 cup championship the team is still championship caliber to this day jeff gordon would go on to give a minor championship run in 2013 and be a serious threat for the title in 2014. he would later announce that 2015 would be his last season and pull one last run for the title almost pulling off the drive for five in 2015. he now works as a broadcaster for fox's portion of nascar's coverage even though this did happen seven years ago i still have my questions regarding the situation that occurred at richmond why was legano still allowed in the chase nothing against joy logano but when the caution came out he wasn't in the chase and the caution practically saved his chase hopes they didn't need to make a 13th spot for gordon they should have done what they did with newman and truex and swapped the two what adds even more insult to injury is that legano even retained his three points bonus for the chase which in turn actually helped him finish one position higher in standings in 2013 by beating out biffle for ninth in points the debate about what nascar should have done for the whole spin gate situation goes on to even this day with how the penalty should have played out and everything involving the legano gordon sherex newman situation but one thing is for certain this event is by far one of the biggest events in the last 20 years in nascar history and even to this day the effects from it can still be felt in the nascar world

Channel: NBR123456

Views: 37,005

Rating: 4.9255581 out of 5

Keywords: Spingate, Clint Bowyer, NASCAR, NASCAR Controversy, 2013 Season, Documentary, NASCAR Playoffs, Richmond Raceway, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip Racing, Spin Gate, 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, 2020 NASCAR Playoffs, 2020 Daytona 500, Furniture Row Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Carl Edwards, Menards, Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Stewart Haas Racing, 5 Hour Energy, MTJ

Id: -vkK3iq8b9o

Length: 33min 50sec (2030 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 26 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/nascarfan88421032]

Insane how one spin off Turn 4 at Richmond by a single driver completely changed the course of NASCAR history.

[u/Scottyh53]

this is a great video. thank you for sharing this here. as a Gordon fan this brings me back to this stressful moment and i cant forget it. its the reason NASCAR has added 13 to now 16 cars in the playoffs. although i would still like to see only 10 get in (i think 10 at most have a chance at the championship with playoffs) this is still very cool to look back on.

[u/whatzittooya24]

I would love to see Door Bumper Clear talk about this incident and have Brett Griffin talk about it.

[u/lt12765]

This was a very interesting video, I had forgotten a lot of details surrounding this event.

[u/thirtyseven1337]

Bowyer seems to be well-liked (which makes sense because of his personality), but did this incident tarnish his reputation at all?

[u/INMATEofARKHAM]

Wasn't watching at the time, watched before and obviously watching now, so I have a couple of thoughts on this.

If they can make spot for Gordon they surely could have made one for Jimmie Johnson due to COVID. (Not saying they should have only that the precedent had been established.)

That said this whole situation just adds fuel to the fire that a chase/playoffs format doesn't really work in racing and NASCAR should do away with it.

Not really related to the outcome but mentioned in the video so I'll touch on it here.

The loss of points for leading a lap has hurt strategy. I would like to see it brought back.