Kenseth Penalized After Kansas Win

Ouch. Huge penalties arose on Wednesday for Matt Kenseth's #20 Joe Gibbs team. After Kenseth's Sprint Cup win last weekend at Kansas, NASCAR found something not too appealing. NASCAR officials found an engine part that was too light according to the rulebook. Joe Gibbs Racing does not directly build their engines though. Toyota Racing Department provides engines (and all of its parts) for the team. TRD claimed in a statement that the part did not increase the performance of the engine and that it was just a "simple oversight."

The penalties include a 50 point deduction for Kenseth (more than what he won last weekend) and a loss of crew chief Jason Radcliff for six races. Radcliff will also have to pay a $200,000 fine for the team's mishap. On top of all that, the team will not be able to earn owner points for six races.

Also, Kenseth loses his spot in next year's Sprint Unlimited because of his pole win last week (Sprint Unlimited qualifications are based on pole wins). Just when you think this can't get any worse, Kenseth's win and bonus points are not allowed to go towards qualifying for the Chase or towards earning a Wild Card spot.

Joe Gibbs Racing now has a possibility of only 1 driver making this year's Chase (Kyle Busch). Earlier in the year, Denny Hamlin injured his back in a wreck at Fontana forcing him to sit out of the car for six races. No update yet on when he will return. Kenseth's penalty now threatens losing another JGR car in the Chase.

TRD and JGR said they will appeal the penalties, but in light of Penske's penalties at Texas, NASCAR will most likely hold a grudge. Kenseth did have an illegal engine, even TRD acknowledged this, and hopes of winning the appeal are not looking good for JGR. NASCAR doesn't fool around. It looks like the "playing in the gray area" days are officially over.