Former NASCAR official sheds light on investigation, decisions during infamous 2013 'Spingate' scandal

At the time, Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, hosted the first race of NASCAR's postseason as well as media week for the Chase. The spotlight was going to be firmly on the race weekend regardless of extenuating circumstances, but what followed was one of the most bizarre set of occurrences in NASCAR history. 

"Monday at nine or 10 o'clock, I'm on a (expletive) airplane going to Chicago," Pemberton said. "They (NASCAR) put me in a room. The TV people came in, and they replayed stuff and replayed stuff. I was in that room for eight or 10 hours the first day and probably 16 the second day." 

After combing through footage and radio transmissions, Pemberton came to a conclusion.

"Now, you're fixing a race," Pemberton said. 

But the MWR scandal was not the only domino to fall in regard to the 2013 Chase. Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports — a pair of Ford teams — were also found to have participated in race manipulation, with David Gilliland intentionally slowing on a restart in order to help Joey Logano secure his spot in the postseason. 

While Logano remained in the playoff field, NASCAR made an unprecedented decision by adding four-time champion Jeff Gordon as a 13th driver, claiming that Gordon and the No. 24 team had been placed at a disadvantage at Richmond due to race manipulation. 

"It was kind of no harm, no foul," Pemberton said of the move to add Gordon to the Chase field. "He wasn't having one of his best years. But that was a decision by a few people. 

"What a frickin' week that was."

The NASCAR Cup Series field will return to Richmond on Saturday for the penultimate race of the 2025 regular season — an event that will hopefully be devoid of race manipulation and controversy.