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NASCAR's harsh punishment on Matt Kenseth a rarity

Two-race penalty seems harsh, even after Kenseth deliberately wrecked Joey Logano.

MOVE OVER, Kevin Harvick: We need room in the principal's office for Matt Kenseth. And Danica Patrick, you sit in the middle of the room; that's where you usually are on the racetracks. We'll get to you later.

Matt, what you did to Joey Logano in Sunday's Martinsville race was reprehensible. Matt, you are a very bad boy. Write on the blackboard 100 times, "I will not wreck the race leader when I am nine laps down."

Unless Thursday's appeal by Joe Gibbs Racing works, Kenseth will be parked for the next two Chase races.

NASCAR suspended Kenseth Tuesday for intentionally wrecking Logano. Kenseth was retaliating for Logano bumping him out of the lead three weeks ago at Kansas, knocking Kenseth out of Chase title contention.

Interestingly, Harvick escaped penalty after his underpowered car made contact with Trevor Bayne's car Oct. 25 at Talladega, causing a multivehicle wreck.

Kenseth's action was comparable to a hockey team's enforcer retaliating to a punishing hit by an opponent on the enforcer's best player. It is not similar to Dale Earnhardt Sr. bumping Terry Labonte out of the way years ago at Bristol. Back then, both were going for the win.

Kenseth was nine laps down when he took out Logano, who was leading at Martinsville.

After sweeping the three previous Chase races, Logano, now eighth and last in the Eliminator round, basically must win one of the next two races to advance to the final four.

Following the Kansas race, NASCAR should've insisted Kenseth and Logano attend a meeting and made them listen to each other's position on the incident. The two likely would not have agreed, but at least the air would've been cleared. If they felt like punching each other, a few blows might have landed, then presumably both would've calmed down.

Kenseth doesn't have a reputation as an overly aggressive racer or someone who is a few wrenches short of a full tool box. He did confront Brad Keselowski last year in the motor homes area, when Keselowski banged into Kenseth's parked car after last year's Chase at Charlotte. Kenseth does have a good memory, though.

The Kenseth-Logano skirmishes reflect the stress caused by the Chase format.

NASCAR's inconsistency on these calls is puzzling. Three years ago, Jeff Gordon was only fined $100,000 and lost 25 points for deliberately wrecking fellow Chaser Clint Bowyer at Phoenix.

"You've got to be consistent," Chaser Kyle Busch said after Martinsville. "I definitely feel NASCAR is very consistent in being inconsistent on calls."

Well said!

Former championship crew chief Jeff Hammond agrees.

"There's no consistency," he said on Tuesday's Fox Sports 1 "Race Hub" show. "That's the only thing that worries me. Everybody's been hollering, 'Get Matt's head,' because of what he did, and it looks like NASCAR has definitely done that.

"They've now set a new precedent. Look back at situations like this in the past - they definitely didn't follow suit. They dropped the hammer on (Kenseth) and dropped it hard, (but) where is the rule that says you can't do this? There is not been a rule in place that would tell a driver and his crew chief, 'You cannot do this, because you're going to get this.' "

On "NASCAR America" on NBCSN, Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett recommended suspending Kenseth for the final three races, so the 2003 Cup series champion couldn't impact Logano's title chances.

I'm OK with a two-race suspension for Kenseth. He deserved a major penalty, but, as Busch and Hammond said, NASCAR must be more consistent. There will always be racing incidents; just make it clear to the drivers and crew chiefs where the line is.

NASCAR's justice department was busy this week. Danica Patrick was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points for pursuing David Gilliland and crashing his car as payback for an earlier confrontation.

In NASCAR, it used to be "good ol' boys will be boys." Now, it's also "girls will be girls."

The next Chase race is in Texas, where everyone is expected to be on their good behavior. At least when the race starts.

This week's race

AAA Texas 500

Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas

When: Sunday, 2 p.m.

TV/Radio: NBC10/WNPV (1440-AM)

Course: 1.5-mile oval

Distance: 334 laps/501 miles

Forecast: sunny, mid-60s

Last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson

Last year's pole: Matt Kenseth, 199.299 mph

Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart, 200.111 mph, November 2014; Stewart's record was set in second round of qualifying. Kenseth won the pole in the next round, when the pole is awarded.

Track facts: Jimmie Johnson led 191 laps, including the last eight, to win last year's race. Kevin Harvick was second, Brad Keselowski was third. Johnson also won this year's first race at Texas; Harvick was runner-up again. Johnson has won four of the last six races at Texas. His five wins are the most wins at the track ... Carl Edwards is a three-time winner at Texas ... The only Chasers in the Eliminator Round who haven't won at Texas are Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski.

Wins: Joey Logano, 6; Matt Kenseth, 5; Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, 4 each; Kevin Harvick, 3; Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, 2 each; Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon, 1 each.

STANDINGS

1. Jeff Gordon: 4,047

2. Kyle Busch: 4,039

3. Martin Truex Jr.: 4,039

4. Kevin Harvick: 4,037

5. Carl Edwards: 4,030

6. Brad Keselowski: 4,013

7. Kurt Busch: 4,011

8. Joey Logano: 4,009

Up next: Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Nov. 15, Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., 2:30 p.m.; TV: NBC10; last year's winner: Kevin Harvick.