UPDATE: Big penalties for Kenseth, No. 20 Cup team - MotorSportsTalk

NASCAR has announced severe penalties for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team after the engine of its race-winning car from Kansas Speedway failed inspection at the series’ research and development center in Concord, North Carolina.

Driver Matt Kenseth has lost 50 championship points, as well as the additional bonus points he attained for winning last weekend’s STP 400. His pole run at Kansas will also not be allowed for eligibility into the 2014 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.

Kenseth’s crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has been fined $200,000 and will be suspended for the next six Sprint Cup points events (the period also includes the non-points Sprint All-Star Race). He will also be placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Joe Gibbs has lost 50 championship car owner points and the owner’s license for the No. 20 car has been suspended for the next six points events, which means he cannot accumulate owner’s points during that period.

Toyota has lost five points in the manufacturer’s championship.

In a statement relayed by the AP’s Jenna Fryer, Joe Gibbs Racing said that they were working with its engine designer, Toyota Racing Development, on the issue and that they would plan to appeal the penalties.

TRD president Lee White also released a statement, saying that his company took “full responsibility” for the problem. The statement disclosed that the lighter connecting rod was approximately three grams under the legal minimum weight of 525 grams.

“It was a simple oversight on TRD’s part and there was no intent to deceive, or to gain any type of competitive advantage,” White said.

Kenseth’s car passed regular post-race inspection at the track according to ESPN.com’s David Newton, but the winning engine was taken to the R&D center for further evaluation — a standard procedure after race weekends. The Wisconsin native held off Kasey Kahne in the final laps to win the STP 400 (his second Cup win of 2013), leading a race-high 163 of 267 laps along the way.

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”