NASCAR found the No. 20 violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.5.3 (E) (Only magnetic steel connecting rods with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted; connecting rod failed to meet the minimum connecting rod weight) of the 2013 NASCAR rule book.

As a result, crew chief Jason Ratcliff has been fined $200,000 and suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events, including the Sprint All-Star Race. He has also been placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Car owner Joe Gibbs has been penalized with the loss of 50 championship car owner points; the first-place finish from the Kansas will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate car owner points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited towards the eligibility for a car owner Wild Card position. Gibbs’ license for the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car suspended for the next six championship points events, which means the car will not receive owner points during that period.

Driver Matt Kenseth was also penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver points; the Coors Light Pole award from Kansas will not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited; the first place finish from Kansas will not earn bonus points toward the accumulated aggregate driver points total after the completion of the first 26 events of the current season and will not be credited towards the eligibility for a driver Wild Card position.

NASCAR has also penalized the manufacturer with the loss of five manufacturer championship points.

Following the penalty, JGR issued a statement:

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is aware of the penalty issued by NASCAR today regarding the engine in our No. 20 car used in last week’s Sprint Cup Series race in Kansas. It is our understanding that one of the eight connecting rods on the engine was ruled too light. We are working with our partners at TRD on this issue. In the meantime we will plan to appeal the penalty.

Toyota Racing Development issued a statement:

During NASCAR’s routine post-race tear down of Matt Kenseth’s race-winning car and engine from Kansas Speedway, one of our engine connecting rods weighed in approximately three grams under the legal minimum weight of 525 grams. None of the other seven connecting rods were found to be under the minimum weight. We take full responsibility for this issue with the engine used by the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team this past Sunday in Kansas — JGR is not involved in the process of selecting parts or assembling the Cup Series engines. It was a simple oversight on TRD’s part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage. … The goal of TRD has always been — and will continue to be — to build high-performance engines that are reliable, durable and powerful, and within the guidelines established by NASCAR.

Update: Matt Kenseth spoke with the media regarding the penalty. He said:

I think the penalties are grossly unfair. I think it’s borderline shameful. There’s no argument the part was wrong. They weighed it and it was wrong. However, there is an argument that there certainly was no performance advantage. If you can find any unbiased, reputable, knowledgeable engine-builder and if they saw the facts, what all the rods weighed. The average weight of all the rods was well above the minimum — 2.5 (grams) above the minimum at least. There was one in there that was way heavy. There was no performance advantage, there was no intent, it was a mistake. JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) had no control over it.

Update 2: Joe Gibbs Racing appealed the penalties. After hearing testimony, the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel amended the original penalties assessed by NASCAR. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff’s suspension was reduced to one Sprint Cup Series championship event. He will be on probation for the next three championship events following his reinstatement.

Joe Gibbs and Matt Kenseth had their points penalties reduced to 12 from 50. All other components of their penalties were rescinded.

Toyota had their manufacturer’s points penalty increased from the loss of five points to the loss of seven.

Related Story

• Kenseth’s Racing-Winning Car Fails Inspection

The engine of the No. 20 contained a connecting rod that did not meet NASCAR’s weight minimum. Toyota Racing Development provides engines for JGR.

It is standard procedure to take the race-winning engine to the R&D center for a thorough inspection.

NASCAR is currently mulling penalties for the No. 20 team.

After reclaiming the lead from veteran Mark Martin on Lap 157 of 160, Logano pulled away to win the Pocono 400 presented by #NASCAR at Pocono Raceway, his first Sprint Cup Series victory since a rain-shortened win at New Hampshire in 2009.

More important, the second triumph of Logano’s career couldn’t have come at a better time — during a contract year in which doubters have considered the 22-year-old a prime candidate to lose his ride at Joe Gibbs Racing to a more established star.

“I hope it shuts ‘em all up,” was Logano’s terse wish for his critics after he climbed from his winning No. 20 Toyota.

Logano, who gave successful former NASCAR Nationwide Series crew chief Jason Ratcliff his first Cup win, beat Martin to the finish line by .997 seconds, the first time in 31 Sprint Cup events a driver has won from the pole. Tony Stewart ran third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

The race was vindication for Logano in another respect. He had claimed his other Cup win by staying on the track and hoping for rain when stronger cars came to pit road.

The gamble paid off, but winning a race in the rain paled in comparison to crossing the finish line under full power ahead of 42 other cars. In fact, Logano said Sunday’s victory felt like his first Cup win.

“To me, it does,” he acknowledged. “The first win came — it came soon, it came under rain delay — so this is a different feel. But when you cross the line, and you’ve won the race, it’s, like I said earlier, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s amazing how much more it means than a Nationwide win.

“Not to take anything away from that, those Nationwide wins are a lot of fun, but I think Jason knows when you’re racing against the best race car drivers with the best race teams out there, and to be able to beat them is — it’s, to me, the best of the best out here.”

In a bizarre race that featured 22 pit road speeding penalties — a record for a Cup race — Matt Kenseth ran seventh and took over the series lead by 10 points over second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., who came home eighth after leading 36 laps, second only to Logano’s 48.

When NASCAR called the sixth caution of the race after Kasey Kahne pounded the Turn 2 wall on Lap 37, Earnhardt — short on fuel — brought his Chevrolet to the pits for gas only, while Logano, Martin, Hamlin, Stewart and Kenseth remained on the track.

Earnhardt restarted 16th and worked his way back to eighth before Logano took the checkered flag.

In the closing laps, Logano and Martin stepped up the level of drama on the racetrack. Martin grabbed the lead with an aggressive move to the outside in Turn 1, after a restart on Lap 153.

For the next four laps, Logano chased the man who eight years ago had tabbed him a future Cup champion. As the drivers completed Lap 156, Logano pulled even near the start/finish line and cleared Martin’s Camry through Turn 1.

“Went into 1 and tried to outbrake him, and he was protecting the bottom,” Logano said. “I was trying to stick my nose in there, and we got really close, and I’m not even sure if we touched each other or not, but I know I got him aero-loose at least and (was) able to slide up underneath him and clear him by the time he got off of (Turn) 1.

“Making sure I cleared him was a very important moment. You start side-drafting down those straightaways and the 14 car (Stewart) is going to be there ready to pounce before you knew it. To clear him, get through (Turn) 2 and get a little distance on him was very important.”

To Martin, who thought there was contact between the cars, Logano’s winning move was an accepted part of the sport, but not one he would use himself.

“Well, I’d call that a bump-and-run,” Martin said. “It’s been acceptable in this racing for a long time. It’s not how I would have done it, but certainly, if I’d have had a fast enough car, he would have gotten a return (bump). But I couldn’t quite keep up with him.

“It was great racing, and everybody does what they’re . . . what they decide to do. It was a great race, and I’m very, very proud of my race team for putting me in something that would give me a shot. I’m having fun. Maybe next week we’ll be the ones with the trophy.”

Notes: Greg Biffle’s No. 16 Ford suffered engine issues late in the race. Biffle finished 24th and fell from first to third in the series standings, 16 points behind Kenseth, his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

After confiscating nine Nationwide cars earlier in the season and checking their horsepower, NASCAR discovered that some Toyotas had as much as three percent more horsepower than the other makes.

As a result, NASCAR issued a technical bulletin that amended section 20A — 5.10.4 as follows:

At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing less than 4.470 inches must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.125-inch diameter holes. At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.100-inch diameter holes. Unless otherwise authorized, the carburetor restrictor will be issued by NASCAR.

After the Carfax 250, NASCAR found that Joe Gibbs Racing manipulated the throttle of its Toyotas so the tests would not be accurate.

NASCAR’s VP of competition, Robin Pemberton said:

In our post-race inspection, our inspectors discovered some shims that were placed on the gas-pedal stop. They were magnets that were about a quarter-inch thick that prevented the accelerator from going 100 percent wide open.

Today, NASCAR announced that seven JGR team members are suspended indefinitely — including crew chiefs Dave Rogers, of the No. 20, and Jason Ratcliff, of the No. 18.

Additional penalties are as follows:

• Tony Stewart and Joey Logano each will be penalized with a loss of 150 championship points and placed on probation until the end of the year. Joe Gibbs was also penalized 150 owner’s points for each of those entries.
• Ratcliff and Rogers were indefinitely suspended and fined $50,000 each.
• Dorien Thorsen, Michael Johnson, and Toby Bigelow, all of the No. 18, and Richard Bray, and Dan Bajek, of the No. 20, have been placed on indefinite suspension.

ESPN adds that JGR would not appeal the penalties and indicated it would also fine the crew members involved and suspend them through the end of the season. Joe Gibbs also made it clear that he had no knowledge of the cheating attempt.

The AP quotes Ratcliff as saying in response to the ammouncement:

I would like to apologize to the employees and partners of Joe Gibbs Racing. Because of poor decision making, I have failed you as the leader of this team and I am solely responsible for this situation. Secondly, I apologize to the men and women of NASCAR for my dishonesty and interference during a testing event.

Rogers said:

I accept the penalties imposed by NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing and make no excuses.

Racing One carried Toyota’s statement which said:

Toyota respects NASCAR’s rules and regulations and accepts the sanctions that were imposed against Joe Gibbs Racing. It is NASCAR’s responsibility to enforce their rules and we respect their decisions. Toyota always has, and will continue to, abide by all NASCAR-mandated policies.

Toyota also commended JGR for the way it handled the situation and quickly owned up to the penalties.

Also of note, NASCAR fined Donnie Wingo, crew chief of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 41 Sprint Cup entry, driven by Reed Sorenson, $25,000 after the car was found to have an improperly attached weight in Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 race at Michigan.

SceneDaily, the Charlotte Observer, and the Sporting News also covered the story.