How a Spinout Destroyed Michael Waltrip Racing's NASCAR Team in 2013

• Clint Bowyer's late spin at Richmond in 2013 led to race-fixing accusations and an episode that would come to be known as “Spingate,” a massive incident that would lead to several suspensions.

• Michael Waltrip Racing was hit with a NASCAR-record $300,000 fine, the dissolution of a major sponsorship and other smaller sponsorships.

• Ultimately, it was a spinout that led to the closure of Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR).

One of the strangest and most controversial episodes in NASCAR’s 75 years of existence occurred during what initially had all the trappings of a regular NASCAR Cup race, the Federated Auto Parts 400, on Sept. 7, 2013 at Richmond International Raceway.

The episode would come to be known as “Spingate,” a massive incident that would lead to several suspensions, a NASCAR-record $300,000 fine, the dissolution of a major sponsorship and other smaller sponsorships and, ultimately, the eventual closure of Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR).

The race was the final qualifying event for the 10-race 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs. And all hell seemingly broke loose in the closing laps when NASCAR alleged MWR, Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports had colluded to manipulate how certain drivers and teams finished.

The biggest incident involved MWR. Driver Clint Bowyer, in collusion with his crew chief, intentionally spun with less than 10 laps remaining to bring out a caution flag, followed by teammate Brian Vickers pitting on the ensuing restart that would eventually allow the third MWR driver, Martin Truex Jr., to qualify for the playoffs, knocking out Ryan Newman from playoff qualifying.

There was a secondary incident that was of a lesser significance, when Team Penske’s Joey Logano passed fellow Ford driver, Front Row’s David Gilliland, late in the race, giving Logano a guaranteed berth in the playoffs, knocking out Jeff Gordon.

Or so it seemed.