NASCAR has handed down—no pun intended—a punishment to Team Penske driver Joey Logano, and it's all because of a glove.
At the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 25, Logano was wearing a "questionable glove" that caught the eye of race officials, according to The Associated Press. By the time he competed at the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, NASCAR ensured the 33-year-old racer wouldn't wear it again.
The issue was with Logano's left glove, which appeared to have aerodynamic qualities, leading some to question whether he donned the special gear during a qualifying race in Atlanta to improve his speed. In qualifying races, drivers sometimes stick their fingers through the holes of their window nets to redirect the air, thereby making them move faster.
The glove had webbing made of an unknown material between every finger, leading officials to theorize that the racer had the equipment altered so he could stick his hand out the window and direct more air to his advantage. Per NASCAR rules, all webbing and stitching that drivers add to their gear muss pass fire retardant safety standards set by racing safety body SFI.
Logano was forced to forfeit his second-place starting position and was dropped to the back of the pack in Atlanta, and he also was given a drive-through penalty on the pit road as a result. He was later fined $10,000 for violating NASCAR's safety code regarding driver clothing. He wore legal gloves when he competed in Las Vegas on March 3, but that didn't do much to dissipate any scrutiny of him and his teammates.
"As a driver, you work with the team and, hey, I’m going to take a portion of responsibility of that too, obviously. I should. I put the glove on," Logano explained, according to The Associated Press. "I didn’t build the glove or make it on my own. I can’t sew. We had conversations about it."
"What I’m proud about with this team is, yeah, that was a tough situation for us," he continued. “It was hard to go through and embarrassing for sure, but the fact we got through it and just move on and focus on the next week."
He also pointed out that he would have never used the aerodynamic glove if he thought it was a danger to himself or others. "I would never have put myself in a situation where I feel unsafe," Logano said. "I have kids. I have a wife. I have a family that I care way more about than race cars."
Team Penske's next race will be at the Shriner's Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 10.
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