NASCAR To Gather More Facts About Chad Knaus Order To Jimmie Johnson At Talladega

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp has issued a statement in response to SB Nation's story Wednesday about Chad Knaus' instructions to Jimmie Johnson to intentionally damage the No. 48 car if he won Sunday's Talladega Superspeedway race.

Here is Tharp's statement in full:

"We became aware of this piece of audio this morning and certainly want to get all the facts before making an opinion and reaching any conclusions. We'll visit with the parties and pull all the facts together best we can.

"While Talladega is done and the No. 48 was not the winning or random car, we certainly have an interest in getting the facts straight on behalf of the balance of the competitors."

Though officials might be steamed at Knaus, it might be difficult for NASCAR to issue a penalty in this situation. While Knaus may have intended for Johnson to wreck the back of the car had the 48 team won the race, nothing ever actually happened.

NASCAR will likely tell Knaus it's not happy with his intentions, however.