NASCAR explains violations that earned penalties for Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas

2024-march2-competition-gloves-2-main-image — Alejandro Alvarez NASCAR.com

It was a random check of high-definition in-car cameras that revealed the safety equipment violation that cost Joey Logano his second-place starting spot and a drive-through penalty in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway—and lightened his pocket by $10,000.

Specifically, the left-hand glove Logano used during his qualifying lap featured unapproved webbing in all the gaps between the fingers, the largest being the space between the forefinger and thumb.

Drivers typically use their left hands to try to block airflow within their cars. In theory, the webbing would be more effective in creating an aerodynamic advantage.

However, the violation involved the modification of an SFI Foundation-approved glove, rendering it non-compliant with mandated safety standards.

“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,” NASCAR Cup Series director Brad

Moran said on Saturday morning while showing the glove to reporters in the NASCAR hauler.

“Unfortunately, when we went through the random check on the 22 (Logano)—we did about five cars in Atlanta—we spotted something that was obviously concerning. SFI does not approve any glove with any webbing, obviously for safety reasons.”

Though the webbing in the glove gives the driver the ability to block more air, the additional material could hinder a driver from getting out of a race car, releasing seat belts or undoing a window net, Moran said.

“So it’s definitely a safety violation,” he added.

Moran also displayed the offending roof rail deflectors that cost Stewart-Haas drivers Noah Gragson (No. 10) and Ryan Preece (No. 41) 35 championship points each and the organization 35 owner points per car.

NASCAR mandates that those CAD-regulated, team-built parts lie flat on the roof. The right-side rails on the two Stewart-Haas cars were machined to protrude above the allowable height.

“There’s three per side, and they sit in a groove on top of the greenhouse,” Moran said. “They’re meant to sit flat. So (that’s) the problem we had with these, and they were the exact same for both cars.

“We don’t get into why they’re like that. They were only on the right side of the two vehicles, and they certainly don’t meet the CAD files. So that’s what the penalty was for.”

Moran said every other car in the field was checked after the violation was discovered, and no other vehicles had the same issue, including the Nos. 4 and 14 of Stewart-Haas, driven by Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe, respectively.