Matt Kenseth won the pole for last weekend’s Sprint Cup event at Kansas Speedway, but he didn’t get to reap any of the benefits, after NASCAR penalized his team for using an underweight connecting rod in the engine of the No. 20 Toyota.
The sanctioning body told Kenseth that his pole wouldn’t count toward eligibility for the 2014 Sprint Unlimited, the preseason exhibition race at Daytona for 2013 polesitters and previous winners of the race.
Carl Edwards, who lost the pole to Kenseth by .017 seconds, figured Kenseth’s penalty might make him eligible for the Sprint Unlimited, but NASCAR president Mike Helton had a different point of view.
“When I saw the news, I texted Mike Helton right away, and I said, ‘All right, cool, we’re in the (Unlimited) next year, right? We got the pole,’” Edwards said. “And he sent back, ‘LOL!’ I didn’t think it was that funny, but he thought it was funny.
“I think (Roush Fenway general manager) Robbie Reiser proceeded to ask him, and then (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig, and he got a good laugh out of it.”
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