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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — A wet Friday kept Sprint Cup cars from practicing at Martinsville Speedway, but gave those in the garage time to discuss the sport's "rough week on the ethical scale," as driver Brad Keselowski put it.

With revelations of one manufacturer drafting primarily with only its cars, a crew chief telling his driver to damage the rear of his car if he won and illegal windshields last weekend at Talladega, many questions were raised about the state of NASCAR. New fans expressed shocked, while older fans relished the sport's return to its roots, where the saying went, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying."

Series officials met with crew chief Chad Knaus and driver Jimmie Johnson on Friday to discuss Knaus' orders to the five-time defending series champion before last weekend's race.

SBNation reported that Knaus told Johnson before the race to damage the rear of his car if he won. The connotation being that they could point to the damage if the car did not fall within NASCAR's tolerances during postrace inspection.

Johnson admitted Friday that "while Chad was trying to protect himself ... he made a foolish statement."

Johnson said Knaus had never before made such a request before a race.

Series officials will not penalize Knaus — his car passed all three inspections at Talladega — but hinted that Johnson's car likely will be selected for further inspection at NASCAR's R&D center after upcoming races. NASCAR typically takes two or three cars, including the winning car, from a race to its facility for further inspection.

What happened on the track at Talladega, though, was what bothered Tony Stewart. The driver had drafted with David Gilliland in previous restrictor-plate races this season, but with Ford teams being asked by a Ford executive to help one another when possible, Gilliland changed partners. That edict gained more focus when Trevor Bayne quit drafting with Jeff Gordon on the final restart to work with fellow Ford driver Matt Kenseth after Kenseth lost his drafting partner.

"It's starting to get way too political on the race track," Stewart said. "That's not the scenario you want to be in as a driver to try to decide a championship."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com