Jeff Gordon Added to the Chase
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Chris Graythen/Getty Images(JOLIET, Ill.) — Jeff Gordon has made the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
Gordon finished last weekend’s race at Richmond in eighth place, leaving Gordon one point behind Penske Racings Joey Logano for the 12th and final spot for the Chase. But after allegations of race fixing were made against Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports, NASCAR decided to expand it’s championship field and make Gordon the 13th driver to qualify for the Chase.
During the week evidence came out that team Penske struck a deal with FRM to allow Logano to pass FRM driver David Gilliland for 22nd place during last Saturday’s race at Richmond allowing Logano to clip Gordon for the last Chase berth.
After reviewing video and audio evidence, NASCAR president Mike Helton and CEO Brian France decided to place Penske and Front Row Racing on probation and add Gordon to the Chase.
“We decided that due to the totality of the events that were outside of Jeff Gordon’s issues, we’re going to add a 13th position to the field so that Jeff Gordon will qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship this year,” France said. “We believe that there were too many things that altered the event that gave an unfair disadvantage to Jeff and his team, who would have qualified. It’s just the right thing to do.”
The Chase begins on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
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