Cole Pearn, the crew chief for Martin Truex Jr., spoke with NASCAR officials about the costly penalty the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team incurred during Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
The bottom line?
Pearn and Truex may have been upset with the penalty for illegally passing the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick on pit road. But NASCAR absolutely stands by the call that was made, which resulted in Truex going from the front of the field when he emerged from the pits to the 22nd position as the last car on the lead lap for the ensuing restart.
Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, confirmed that Pearn visited the NASCAR hauler to seek an explanation following Saturday night’s race.
Miller said the rule broken by Truex is clearly spelled out in the NASCAR Rules Book.
“I didn’t expect him to be happy, but you can’t pass on pit road,” Miller said. “If you do pass on pit road, it specifically says it has to be to the right when somebody is peeling off into their box. Without getting too deep into it, I didn’t expect for him to be happy, but you can’t pass cars on pit road.”
Truex was upset after the race and said he would be seeking clarification from NASCAR on the violation.
“I feel like I did the same thing guys do every week,” Truex said then. “You get to your timing line, you step on the gas, and you head straight toward your pit. Obviously I turned left and came up next to the 4 car (of Harvick) and passed him as I was driving to my pit, which is what guys do every week.
“I don’t know why it was different today. I would think that if they didn’t want us to do it any more, they would tell us in the drivers’ meeting. But I mean, hell, I’ve been passed on pit road 15 times this year that same exact way – and I didn’t see guys get penalized. So I guess when you’re doing it for a win, it’s different circumstances or something.”
Truex rallied after the penalty and drove all the way from 22nd up to third before being forced to pit for fuel with 10 laps remaining. He ended up finishing 10th.
“I was so mad about being called for the penalty that I just let it rip,” Truex said.
