Team Penske superstar Joey Logano has had a far-from-ideal start to his 2024 Cup Series season. Following a wreck that took him out of contention in the Daytona 500, he was found breaking NASCAR’s safety rules at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta. With unapproved safety gloves being the focal point of his infraction, here’s a brief explanation of what exactly was it that the driver did wrong.
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The left glove that Logano wore during the qualifying session at the 1.54-mile track had additional webbing than what is standard between the thumb and index finger. It is standard practice for drivers to use their hands to block the air that flows in through the window netting on their cars, to reduce drag on the straights in superspeedways. And this is where Logano’s webbed glove supposedly gave him an advantage.
NASCAR ruled that the glove wasn’t one approved by SFI, a non-profit that’s responsible for certifying safety equipment. Though it is an infraction, the ingenuity of Logano’s cannot be cast away. Former crew chief Steve Letarte says of it, “I am a little mad that I didn’t come up with this idea. This is pretty great right there. There’s a web between the pointy finger and the thumb making it kind of block more air.”
The promotion initially decided that Logano would have to serve a pass-through penalty for his violation of safety standards but that punishment nullified itself when it ended up saving him from the crash on Lap 2. A fine of $10,000 came up subsequently to call it a day. Neither the driver nor Team Penske have commented on the infringement following their 28th-place finish.
What rule did Logano exactly break with his SFI-unapproved glove?
Rule 14.3.1.1 of the NASCAR constitution states that driver gloves must meet an SFI rating of 3.3. While Logano’s gloves are likely to have originally met that condition, the certification was lost immediately after a modification was made to it. Section 2.5 of the SFI 3.3-rating document assures that, reading, “Any Driver Accessory pertaining to this specification shall remain as constructed by the original manufacturer and shall not be modified or altered by anyone else.”
NASCAR Head of Competition, Elton Sawyer, spoke on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to clarify the punishment that had been given out. While drivers using their hands to block air wasn’t something that caused alarm, he reiterated that modifying safety equipment was. “When you take it to the level that you have modified one of the safety equipment, gloves in particular, and then using that, the penalty at the track was based on that,” he said.
