(Note: As 2015 comes to an end, we're looking back at some of the top Shake and Bake stories of the year. The following was originally published on Nov. 8.)
Suspended by NASCAR this past week for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, Matt Kenseth wasn't at Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday's Chase race.
Oh, you can believe he was watching, though.
Kenseth, who strongly disagreed with NASCAR's 2-race ban that was later twice upheld in subsequent appeals, made a not-so-subtle dig at NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on Twitter just a few minutes after Jimmie Johnson executed a clean pass on Brad Keselowski to score the win at Texas.
Good work @JimmieJohnson! Textbook pass for the win at the end of the race when someone is trying to take your lane. #quintessential
— Matt Kenseth (@mattkenseth) November 8, 2015
Kenseth's tweet was a reference to France calling it "quintessential NASCAR" after Logano knocked Kenseth out of the way while the two battled hard for the win three weekends ago at Kansas Speedway.
The Kansas incident, which ruined Kenseth's best shot to advance in the Chase, left the 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion furious with Logano, and ultimately was a big factor in Kenseth's retaliation at Martinsville.
Of course, on Sunday Kenseth also was also clearly happy to see someone stand in the way of Keselowski -- Logano's teammate -- getting a win and punching his ticket to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.
Kenseth has had two memorable run-ins with Keselowski -- one coming after last year's Chase race at Charlotte when Kenseth put Keselowski in a headlock, and the latest coming last weekend at Martinsville when contact with Keselowski resulted in Kenseth missing out on a chance to win.
It was just a few minutes later in the race at Martinsville -- while limping around the track multiple laps down in a damaged car -- that Kenseth exacted his revenge on Logano, who was leading at the time.
Asked during post-race interviews at Texas if he had seen Kenseth's tweet, Johnson indicated he hadn't.
"Clearly he was watching and bored at home," Johnson said. "His (Green Bay) Packers lost so he's probably not in a good mood."
