Matt Kenseth penalized, black-flagged at Atlanta – Nascar

HAMPTON, Ga. — Matt Kenseth had heartbreak at the Daytona 500 and heartburn at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

Kenseth was black-flagged after a penalty on pit road in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but he didn’t know it. He stayed out after receiving a black flag with a white cross from NASCAR officials, signifying the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet would no longer be scored as completing a lap.

The confusion began when the No. 20 pit crew was penalized because the gas man placed a tool on the rear of Kenseth’s Toyota Camry, which is illegal. According to the NASCAR rule book, “The Fueler must be in control of the fuel can at all times when fuel is being added to the vehicle. The Fueler will not be permitted to perform any adjustments or other pit stop procedures while the fuel can coupler is engaged with the vehicle-mounted adapter.”

Even after crew chief Jason Ratcliff brought Kenseth in to serve his pass-through penalty, confusion remained. Neither Kenseth nor Ratcliff could determine why they were scored two laps down.

Kenseth said, “I’m gonna blow a gasket if we got black-flagged and you didn’t tell me to pit.”

Ratcliff replied, “I can’t see the black-and-white flag when I’m out of the pit box arguing the case.”

Kenseth’s Camry had been strong, much as it was at Daytona. He led 47 laps at Atlanta before the pit road trouble began on Lap 170. He had led 40 laps at Daytona and was contending for the win when a bold move by teammate Denny Hamlin led to the No. 11 winning and the No. 20 shuffling back to finish 14th.

Kenseth finished Sunday’s race 19th and even after the race was still unclear exactly how the mistakes had happened. But the bottom line was he couldn’t do anything about the black flag he didn’t see.

“I couldn’t see the flag stand,” Kenseth said as the team rehashed the situation during a caution period on Lap 210. He told fill-in spotter Curtis Markham, “If we ever get in that situation again, you gotta gotta gotta tell me. …. I woulda pitted before the cross. I can’t help it if I don’t have any information.”

Ratcliff remained adamant that the team shouldn’t have been penalized for the gas can man taking a tool to and from the car, saying, “We’ve always done that. We’ve been doing that forever. But suddenly today it’s a penalty.”

Kenseth was less concerned with that and emphasized that there’s a better time and place to argue. “Regardless, whether we’re right or wrong, we’ve only got so long to respond to the flag or we’re screwed.”

After the race, Kenseth said he understands the black flag rule. “No one had to explain it to me.”