The 2013 Spingate incident at Richmond remains one of the most shocking acts of race manipulation in the sport. Clint Bowyer, in collusion with his crew chief, intentionally spun with ten laps to go to raise a caution flag and give his teammate Martin Truex Jr. a chance to qualify for the playoffs. Six years after his deviancy, Bowyer still believed there was a need to break the rules at certain points.
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The former driver elaborated to Jeff Gluck when a hypothetical situation was put before him back in 2019. If his crew chief added an illegal part to his car that would make it extremely fast, would he want to know about it? Bowyer’s answer was instant and decisive, “Hell, no. No.” He continued, “It is cheating, right? It’s whatever. But it’s what they do for a living.”
“If they don’t, you cannot have success. If you’re not pushing over the line — not to the line, but over the line — you’re going to be behind somebody that is willing to do that.” He mentioned that whoever made the addition wouldn’t let people know about it. Not even the driver. However, Bowyer is rather fond of the game crew chiefs play with officials over the rule book.
He said, “I think some of the more interesting, neat things about our sport is those guys’ ability to outfox Johnny Law. That’s literally what they’re doing. But that’s what they get paid to do, and they’re all extremely intelligent people, too. This isn’t like ol’ Joe Blow off the street, uneducated nothing.”
The Michael Waltrip Racing scandal of which Bowyer was a part
Spingate involved heavy suspensions and fines levied on multiple individuals. The core incident in the middle of the scandal involved Bowyer, Brian Vickers, and Martin Truex Jr. Bowyer spun with ten laps to go and brought the caution flag out. Vickers pitted on the following restart and allowed Truex Jr. to pass by to secure a playoff spot without intervention.
Bowyer later contended that he had a flat tire and that is what caused the spin, but the officials did not heed him. Radio messages between him and his crew chief proved things clearly and he was docked 50 points. Michael Waltrip Racing was fined $300,000 which ultimately led to its collapse and shut down.
The words of Darrell Waltrip come to mind going back over the scandal and Bowyer’s words in 2019. “If you don’t cheat, you look like an idiot,” he said. “If you cheat and don’t get caught, you look like a hero. You cheat and get caught, you look like a dope. Put me where I belong.”
