In a stunning surprise, NASCAR on Tuesday stripped Matt Kenseth of his victory in Sunday’s Subway 400 and declared short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno the race winner.

Hey, that makes as much sense as anything else NASCAR did over the weekend at North Carolina Speedway.

Actually, NASCAR fined Robbie Reiser, Kenseth’s crew chief, $30,000 on Tuesday for his car’s failure to pass an inspection after the Subway 400 last weekend.

Kenseth’s car was found to be about a quarter-inch lower than the minimum 51 inches off the ground in the inspection about three hours after Sunday’s race in Rockingham, N.C.

Tony Eury, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief, was fined $25,000 for a nearly identical infraction following his driver’s victory last October in Talladega, Ala.

As you can see, expecting NASCAR to make the same decision under similar circumstances is a huge mistake. Consistency has not exactly been NASCAR’s strong suit this season.

When a caution came out with less than 10 laps to go in the Daytona 500, NASCAR put out the red flag and preserved a green-flag finish. That’s been the common practice in such situations in recent years.

But on Sunday at Rockingham, there was no red flag and Kenseth won a race that was allowed to end under the yellow.

Why?

NASCAR president Mike Helton offered an explanation that, in effect, said there were not enough laps left to use the red flag, which stops the cars on the track immediately, to get a green-flag finish.

But Helton based his scenario on the fact that the final yellow started at the end of Lap 389. In reality, it came out after 388 laps. Helton said the yellow came one lap too late, but the one lap he said was needed was actually there all along.

If there had only been time for one final lap under the green, a mad dash to the checkered flag would have been, as winning car owner Jack Roush said, “a recipe for a big wreck.”

But didn’t the red flag at the end of the Daytona 500 create at least an equally volatile situation? Ask Dale Jarrett. Remember Jarrett sliding across the trioval after getting bumped on the final restart with three laps remaining?

Sterling Marlin said NASCAR’s decisions are based on whoever is leading. That’s a stinging accusation, of course, but one that is certainly understandable for Marlin to levy. If the rule had been applied the same way in both of the season’s first two races, Marlin might already have two victories this season.

Here’s an actual statement from NASCAR spokesperson Danielle Humphrey issued Sunday evening: “The No. 17 of Matt Kenseth passed post-race inspection with the exception of meeting the minimum height requirement.”

In other words, Kenseth’s car was perfectly legal except for the part of it that was not.

If doublespeak were an Olympic event, NASCAR would own that gold.