"It was personal attacks": When Ty Norris recalled the aftermath of Richmond Springate scandal

In September 2013, Ty Norris, the team general manager, and vice president working at Michael Waltrip Racing, was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR. This was because the governing body found him to be one of the perpetrators behind the infamous 'Springate' Scandal.

One big factor behind Norris getting the penalty was his communication over the radio to Brian Vickers. Norris was spotting for Vickers in the race at Richmond, which was to decide the final wildcard Chase spot between Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman.

At the end of the race, the two drivers finished tied on points, with Truex getting the nod because of him having a 2nd place finish at Texas. However, their getting to that point involved a controversial spin by Clint Bowyer which kickstarted a mass pit entry by the drivers for a stop.

Along with that, NASCAR highlighted one radio interaction between Ty Norris and Vickers in particular on lap 398 where the spotter gave his drivers order to make a green-flag pit stop, which led to Tryex gaining a spot to tie Newman in points.

Speaking about this to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a recently uploaded conversation on Dirty Mo Media, Norris opened up on his side of things. He revealed that when he found out what everyone else was doing, he knew it was 'bad news' considering what he had said on the radio.

"I hated that not everybody got in trouble but just I got slaughtered. I got feted. I watch television I'm like, I'm the only guy in the world, I'm like I was pi*sed but Michael and Rob came to me and they were like shut up just shut up, just let it go and it was hard for me because there was a lot and it was personal attacks and it was professional attacks, personal attacks," Norris said. [1:11:00]

---

Ty Norris understood why NASCAR made him the poster boy of the Richmond scandal

Further talking on this subject, Ty Norris expressed his frustrations at NASCAR while also being understanding of them trying to put some calm in an 'out of control' situation.

Norris revealed that there was 'so much conversation' going on the radio that day at Richmond about what they could 'do for each other.' Having said that, he added:

"As mad as I was that I was the poster boy for it, it had to end." [1:12:10]

It's worth mentioning that after serving a four-month suspension, Norris was reinstated by NASCAR in January 2014. And even before NASCAR reinstated him, Michael Waltrip Racing announced a change in his role.

Norris' involvement in the competition side was replaced with his role in sponsorships and marketing.

Currently, Ty Norris is with Kaulig Racing as its Chief Business Officer.