Rick Hendrick talks about decision to put Gordon into Chase - MotorSportsTalk

Earlier today, NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick – who now has all four of his drivers in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup after the sanctioning body put in Jeff Gordon as a 13th Chase driver – declared that it was clear Gordon deserved to be in the post-season after last Saturday’s race at Richmond International Raceway.

“I didn’t have to make that decision, but I sure felt like it was obvious that [Gordon] got taken out by a manipulation instead of getting beat,” Hendrick said at Chicagoland Speedway according to Jim Litke of The Associated Press. “I think the world knew it and they had to do what they did.”

NASCAR’s decision to add Gordon to the playoff run was the second change to its post-season field made since the events of Richmond, in which Clint Bowyer intentionally spun out with seven laps to go to try and help Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. make the Chase.

That spin proved to stop Ryan Newman from winning the race and earning a Wild Card spot in the Chase, but this past Monday, penalties levied against MWR knocked Truex out of the Chase and brought Newman in. Then on Friday, NASCAR made its unprecedented decision to add a 13th driver to the Chase – Gordon, who was also impacted negatively by Bowyer’s spin.

According to the AP, Hendrick believed the penalties will be helpful in the long run to teams and drivers in regards to knowing what they can and can’t do. NASCAR held a closed-door meeting yesterday at Chicagoland, telling team personnel that a 100 percent effort is expected from here on in.

Today, Hendrick is a bit happier than how he felt last weekend after the Richmond race.

“…I was just disgusted and left,” he said according to the AP. “I didn’t hang around. I got out of there as soon as it was over because it wouldn’t have done any good.”

Follow @estradawriting

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.”