Roger Penske was set to surrender his usual spot on the spotter stand for a seat in a suite. Its one concession from the fallout of the Richmond scandal. But Penske, back at a NASCAR track for the first time since the sports big embarrassment, insisted his team was in the clear and knew nothing about a deal with Front Row Motorsports to get #22-Joey Logano into the Chase. ‘We didnt do anything, quite obviously’ Penske said Sunday at New Hampshire. ‘When I heard the crew chief on whatever car it was made all this big noise, we didnt have any deal at all. Thats how people role play stuff in NASCAR. I think at the end of the day, it worked out for everybody and were moving on.” Penske said he had only watched one race at a NASCAR track from a spot other than the spotter stand. ‘Im going to find a nice spot in the suite’ he said, ‘or maybe Ill stay home and watch on TV.” Penske has plenty on his plate besides dealing with NASCARs penalties and hoping Logano can rebound from his 12th-place spot in the Chase to work his way into contention. His IndyCar Series team signed former Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya to mark an open-wheel return and hes trying to find a Cup ride in 2014 for Sam Hornish Jr. Hornish is closing in on a championship in the Nationwide Series but his status for next season is up in the air. With Logano and defending champion Brad Keselowski locked into the two Penske Cup seats, theres no room at Penske in the top series for Hornish, who has made 93 career Nationwide starts for Penske and has run 130 Cup races for him since 2007. Penske said hes yet to make a decision on Hornishs future. ‘There have been other teams that have contacted him’ he said. ‘I just told him, `Hey, take a good look and see whats out there. Thats what were doing right now.” Penske ruled out any interest in Martin Truex Jr. or expanding his Cup team or Nationwide teams beyond two cars each.( Associated Press )
