A League of Their Own

With seven laps to go at NASCAR's Federated Auto Parts 400, Brian Pattie, crew chief for Clint Bowyer of Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR), said to Bowyer over the radio:

"39 (Ryan Newman) is going to win the race. Is your arm starting to hurt? I bet it's hot in there. Itch it." (From ESPN.com)

Shortly afterwards, Bowyer spun.

Subsequently, Newman, who was poised to win the race, had a slow pit stop which cost him victory as well as a spot in the Chase.

When race resumed after Bowyer's spin with just three laps to go, MWR's general manager Ty Norris said to his driver Brian Vickers:

"We need that one point. We're probably going to pit here on green," Norris says.

"Are you talking to me? I don't understand, pit right now?" asked Vickers.

"You've got to pit this time. We need that one point," Norris replied.

"10-4. Do I got a tire going down?" Vickers asked.

Vickers then pitted as the field went green. When he asked after if his crew found anything with the tire, Norris replied, "I'll see you after the race, Brian, I owe you a kiss." (From ESPN.com)

The result? Joey Logano of Penske Racing was able to move ahead of Vickers, gain positions and score enough points to qualify for the Chase on points alone, and free up a wildcard spot for Martin Truex Jr., the third MWR driver, for the Chase. The victim this time is Jeff Gordon, who would have qualified for the Chase but for Bowyer's spin, and now have lost out to Logano by a single point.

Two questionable moves by MWR, two beneficiaries in Logano and Truex, and two victims in Newman and Gordon.

Subsequently, NASCAR imposed fines and point penalties to all MWR drivers, resulting in Newman taking Treux's place in the Chase. But they did not do anything to bring Gordon back into the Chase.

At first it looked like Logano is an innocent and worthy beneficiary. But new evidence (radio conversation, again) has surfaced which showed that the small Front Row Motorsports team, like Penske Racing being Ford customers, had ordered its driver David Gilliland to slow down considerably and let Logano through to gain those vital points.

Looks like the Chase field is far from set yet.

For Yours Truly, the whole thing is not about team orders per se. It is more about the way in which they were carried out. MWR carried out the team orders in probably the clumsiest way ever. It all sounded so stupid and obvious. Why didn't they devise some sort of codes?

One classic example came to mind. At the 2010 German Grand Prix, Felipe Massa was informed by his Ferrari engineer over the radio:

"Fernando (Alonso) is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand that message?"

Massa then eased off and let Alonso through to victory. While Ferrari was fined by the stewards, the results stood.

Then at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, the last race of the season, Red Bull told Sebastian Vettel, who has already secured the World Championship, over the radio, that he had a gearbox problem and had to slow down.

Eventually, his teammate Mark Webber went past to secure his belated first win of the season, and many believe that Red Bull pulled it off remarkably well.

They always say that Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsports.

Now Yours Truly cannot agree more, in more ways than one.