Hendrick says NASCAR has punished Gordon and Johnson enough
40 Comments Published June 24th, 2007 in NASCAR News
“I don’t necessarily say they bent the rules,” [Team Owner Rick] Hendrick said after a lengthy team meeting inside of Jeff Gordon’s hauler. “They thought they were working inside of an area they thought they could. The fenders on the car are sitting out there in front of God and everybody. If you’re going to try to do something to gain an advantage you wouldn’t do it and roll it through inspection.”
NASCAR officials said the front right fenders on both cars were flared out beyond the wheel well to create an advantage. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, called it a blatant attempt to circumvent the rules. Based on what happened to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. when NASCAR discovered alterations to the rear-wing bracket at Darlington, the ensuing penalty will be substantial. Eury was suspended for six races and fined $100,000, and Earnhardt was docked 100 championship points. Hendrick, anticipating that or worse, already is pleading his case to NASCAR.
“We’ll have to see what the penalty is, but I don’t think the penalty fits the crime in this case when you’re talking about the top of a fender or the side of a fender,” he said. “I don’t see it as a situation where you had a certified part and it’s been altered or anything like that.”
Hendrick said Gordon and Johnson already have been punished enough — they’re being forced to start at the rear of the field. The only driver to win at Infineon from the back was Ernie Irvan, who started at the rear after jumping the start in 1992. We want to play by the rules. I don’t enjoy this. The guys don’t enjoy this. I’m sure NASCAR doesn’t enjoy this. This is a big penalty not being able to qualify and get a good starting spot and good pit spot,” he said. “We’re just hoping for a good finish. If these two cars finish in the top 10 tomorrow I’ll be happy.”
ESPN.com
What a moron. They’re going to get banged and he knows it. I think this might be the straw that broke the camel’s back with Hendrick and NASCAR will finally smack him just as hard as everyone else. They’ve told people a thousand times not to mess with the CoT and they still did it… Not very bright, IMHO.
-Jeff
I hope the penalty is harsh….DEI was punished when they were caught and I believe Hendrick should get the same punishment. Also everyone is wondering why Hendrick has dominated the COT. Maybe Nascar found the answer……..
send them all home
“If you’re going to try to do something to gain an advantage you wouldn’t do it and roll it through inspection.” ..I guess they forgot proper procedure.
Let ‘em race but take some points; suspend the crew chiefs. Robin Pemberton has a chance to really quiet a lot of critics if they do the right thing, but some how I doubt they will.
I can hear his pompous voice now, “No crew chief suspensions or point penalties will ensue do to the nature of the violation and the cars not being allowed to qualify.”
enough of suspending the crew chiefs and points already! Suspend the whole damn team, you
want them to get the picture you send each team home. Doing the first part hasn’t done
anything to Hendrick in the past(uh early last year). If Jr got penalized 100 points for
illegal WING BRACKETS then the butt buddies better get a lot lot worse for not passing the
first inspection.
If they didn’t get the point from when DEI messed with the COT cars then i think they will get the point now.
I hope nascar does something to them.
I say just suspend the crew chiefs for some races and then take away any chase bonus points that they won in a COT race.
-Chris
It should atleast mirror the -100 pts, fine, and suspended crew chief penalty that DEI/Jr. got
If its anything less then it will be BS.
I think Hendrick is a complete and utter FAT MORON. He thinks just because he’s some big-shot car owner he can sweet talk NASCAR into changing the rules just for the prissy Hendricks’ boys. Enough is enough, if NASCAR doesn’t have their heads up their asses like everyone thinks they do, they will put their foot down and be consistent with their penalties. If their heads are on straight, they will see that this is a MAJOR opportunity to show all of the fans that they are not favoring HMS.
…And if they don’t give a penalty that fits the crime, I will be DEAD-SET on my feelings on HMS. They are cheaters and NASCAR favors them.
I’ve got this gut feeling that NASCAR is going to give the smallest penalties possible, if any at all.. I can see it.. then everyone will finally have the same opinion on HMS.
What no one seems to understand or bother to acknowledge is that both the 24 and 48 met NASCAR template inspection standards — issue here has nothing to do with not meeting templates. THE ISSUE IS that NASCAR did not like what it saw BETWEEN the template plates. Even NASCAR has admitted such. What DEI and Junior was a clear violation of NASCAR rules regarding the wing, it’s angle, placement and mounting brackets. If anyone has listened NASCAR has taken every car that Hendrick Motorsports has won a COT race with and kept it longer at the NASCAR Tech Center than any other team cars. If NASCAR is so determined to totally and complete dictate the building and design of the carsm, why don’t they just build their own manufacturing plate, make the cars, build the engines, recruite sponsorship and pay the driver’s to drive them. Can’t anyone see what the big picture is here – all of the losers whining, but no one was crying when Jack Roush had all five of his teams in the Chase. See you in Vegas next year with my banner “Hey, hey, hoo, hoo, HELTON, HUNTER AND FRANCE IT IS TIME TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Correct me if I’m wrong but hadn’t Jr already qualified and practiced BEFORE NASCAR found the illegal brackets? Jeff and JJ had not, right? Therefore, nothing was gained by the part, correct?
I’m sorry, but, not being allowed to qualify at Sonoma is bad enough, why punish them any further when they didn’t even take the freakin’ cars on the track?? Come on people, if this was Jr you’d all say the same thing.
I’m a Gordon Fan don’t get me wrong but I think NASCAR and all other pro sports are taking this out of hand. Thier just throwing around peniltys and ruining thier sport to try to strike some fear in thier competitors.I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be penilized, but they already took a big hit now, 50,000 and 50 points should do good with a 2 race suspention.
I pretty much think Jr. and Stewart suck. Thats my two cents.
GO BORIS!!!!!
Gordon Girl,
They found the bracket in pre qualifiying inspection! Jeff and Jimmies was found at the same point in inspections.
dont hate all its gonna take is for there to be a coution and they will be back to the front as usuall…..DONT BE DRINKING ON THAT HATER-RADE..
GordonGirl24 – I’m not surprised to see someone with a user name like that think that the punishment was already fair… Your perspective is about as unbiased as Hendrick’s!
It doesn’t matter when they got caught. What matters is intent, and I don’t think they did it to try and play a prank on NASCAR. They did it to try and get around NASCAR’s inspection by manipulating the fenders of the car OUTSIDE of the templates and gain a competitive advantage.
NASCAR has made is absolutely clear on no uncertain terms that you do not mess with the CoT, and if you do, you will pay in a big way. The CoT is supposed to level the playing field to some extent between the haves and have-nots and when Hendrick shows up with two cars that clearly are stepping over the line, they are directly going against that.
Expect them to be punished at least as severely as Jr and Eury were.
Jeff you nailed it. To bad you have the same name as one of the butt buddies, but you are right that they
intentionally tried to bend the rules and got caught.
I hope that they do get punished just like jr. did. I am sick of NASCAR always letting them off a little more than they do other teams. And for Hendrick to say it is punishment enough to start at the back… I think that if they don’t pass inspections then they shouldnt race. That would stop the cheating. There are plenty of people who want to race, we dont need the cheaters there.
NASCAR Is starting to be like the other PRO SPORTS and that is why they are losing viewers each and every week. Fans are sick of the constant cheating from all the teams. No one ever steps up to the plate and says it was there fault. Its always someone else’s fault. And the fans are sick of the constant rule changes, inconsistent calls and were even getting sick of “boogity,boogity,boogity.
Darren
Minnesota
I am a Petty fan so this is completely non-biased opinion. The fines on the COT are going to be steep for anyone and they admit they were playing a “gray area” if you watched the pre-race show today. 100 points 6 races and 100,000 is going to be the penalty and if it is not scew you NASCAR
By the way, this was on That’s Racin’:
” With a new system of templates and sensors to measure the parameters of the taller, wider and reputedly safer car, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the sanctioning organization wants to leave no doubts that it will come down hard on infractions.
“We have to lay down the law,” France said Sunday at Infineon Raceway, where the Nextel Cup cars raced in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.”
Enjoy your impending vacation Cheatin’ Chad!
-Jeff
They shouldn’t of been able to race!!! They didn’t even start 42nd and 43rd, hell PJ. Jones had to start behind them…the penalty better be stiff. Chad Knaus should be suspended for the remainder of the year, come back in ’08 pal! They blatantly scewed the rules and should pay the price….
as for BEN…
Ben H! Jun 24th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I pretty much think Jr. and Stewart suck. Thats my two cents.
GO BORIS!!!!!
when the heck does boris EVER win? LOL keep cheerin cowboy
Mark Martin lost a championship on a intake manifold that was inspected 5 times before a race and passed and then a nascar inspector failed it after he won a race. That was a suvere penalty. Its getting old when team Hendrick gets caught cheating , again and again that Nascar gives them soft penalties. I’d like to see them sit out a race , perferrably the first race of the championship run. I hope Jr. is a fan of cheating , cause thats where he is heading next year.
i was just looking at the nascar webpage and they said that he wants nascar to better define the gray area, i got it in 1 sentence. you f-ing idiot there is no gray area its a black area which means there is no leway
Well my to since is its about time for NASCAR to step up, they said it would be harsh this year and This should be nothing less then the a hard fine. It part of racing to push the rules but some times people need to take the point and stop trying to bend the rule book, it was a gray area and they should have been smarter then to push the point, oh and the Roush comment about the 5 in the top, well look how was driving and those cars were just having good luck staying out of the big ones!!!
I’m a jeff gordon fan and i think they all should be punished because it’s CALL CHEATING everyone. if they punish hendrick more than DEI it will be a bunch of crap because they got cught so punish them the same exact p[unishment as DEI but double since there is 2 cars instead of one now.
well everybody is entitled to thier own opinion. im a jeff fan and i dont care what happens, he dont need steve as a crew chief, he’ll do just fine. dock him 100 pts go ahead it wont make a difference becuz once the chase starts he’ll get those bonus pts for those wins. one more thing everybody is saying jeff should have this happen, this and all that other crap then, well u dont like it when your driver is in hot water now. so yeah thats it.
ONCE IN A VERRRRRRRY LONG WHILE I THINK NASCAR GOES WAY TO FAR WITH PENALTIES. (EVERYBODY IS ENTITLED TO THIER OWN OPINION) IM NOT SAYING JEFF AND JIMMIES WERE TOO HARSH BUT REALLY SOME ARE>
The great Junior Johnson said:”It’s only cheatin’ when you get caught”.
I wanna see some tough penalties. I don’t dislike them boys but I wanna see something fair happen. Plus it would be a great way to silence a lot of suspicions about Nascar favoring HMS (of which I think they do). Just my 2 cents. If it isn’t at the least the same as Jr.’s then I will be very p*****.
Knaus got nailed last year for cheating at the Daytona 500 and Johnson won the damn race with Darian Grubb on top of the box. You’d think he learned his lesson but nooooooo. Knaus is a habtiual cheater. Always has been. NASCAR needs to suspend this guy without pay through the end of the season. That will get his attention.
I agree with Jeff Hammond (if you havent read his article, read it). It was in an aea that templates don’t cover, so i say it should have been left legal. It’s going to be like the shocks at dover, a small penalty to say “We don’t like what you did because it was legal but advantagous, so now we’re going to make it illegial”
I dont expect much for penalties, maybe 50K and 50p, because they already lost about 50 points starting tail end.
u know wat all u mother fuckers need 2 back off gordon because u guys do is bitch just because he’s a good driver i mean when gordon passed dale on the win list more people were pissed off then excited dale taught alot about racing don’t u think he would have wanted this? then when gordon got his 77th win at talladega prople were throwing beer and other shit at him. that is a major disgrace to nascar showing a ton of poor sportsmenship from the fan of nascar, that incident proved to alot of people that nascar barely ranks above dirt so to all u assholes who cant support all the drivers equally then nascar is not the sport for u!
u know wat all u mother fuckers need 2 back off gordon because u guys do is bitch just because he’s a good driver i mean when gordon passed dale on the win list more people were pissed off then excited dale taught alot about racing don’t u think he would have wanted this? then when gordon got his 77th win at talladega prople were throwing beer and other shit at him. that is a major disgrace to nascar showing a ton of poor sportsmenship from the fan of nascar, that incident proved to alot of people that nascar barely ranks above dirt so to all u assholes who cant support all the drivers equally then nascar is not the sport for u!
Well, Sara, MI if you would expand your vision of racing from Nascar, to all of automobile racing you would realize Boris is actually a very successful driver. And when he does race in Nascar he doesn’t do all that bad. I root for Boris on the road course’s because I think it would be awesome to see a driver not racing a full schedule win. And please don’t call me a cowboy. I don’t make fun of you, I make fun of your driver.
Stop whining Gordo fans. By the way Grey is spelled with an E not an A.
Gray is a color.
Grey is a *colour*
I dislike all the Jr. this Gordon that comparisons. Do we all forget Michael and his fine this year. They are going to crack down on everyone equally. So 24 fans stop you whining. They got caught and move on for six races without a crew chief.
Ben H!
Jun 24th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I pretty much think Jr. and Stewart suck. Thats my two cents.
GO BORIS!!!!!
Listen the only thing Boris is good at is Road Courses even though i like him as a person he will never be as good as jr or stewart so live with it.
Anonymous
Jun 25th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I agree with Jeff Hammond (if you havent read his article, read it). It was in an aea that templates don’t cover, so i say it should have been left legal. It’s going to be like the shocks at dover, a small penalty to say “We don’t like what you did because it was legal but advantagous, so now we’re going to make it illegial”
I dont expect much for penalties, maybe 50K and 50p, because they already lost about 50 points starting tail end.
Good point.
This thing & the COT’s car has long since turned into a mess.
–Shades of Orson Welles -1984. Just like the government,
one size fits all. And look how good the Gov’s doing with are
tax dollars-?? Only thing different is you have a dictator rather than a padded pocket elected officials.
If I have read & heard correctly, only the nose, tail, & engine are different. Everything else is must be a virtual copy template. – One size fits all – And this is all to make the corporate sponsors happy-! Must keep the moneychangers happy.
There is getting to be no individuality left. A driver or owner or, god forbid, a crew chief or member, opens they’re mouth and says something(Steward)- and it’s a slam.
The innovative individuality is something that has always been a part of NASCAR for over 30yrs that I have been watching-the heck with dating myself-. That is because it has been part of the American-can do- way. The Americans always get it to work, don’t know how, but they did it. -You kill that and the whole thing will go- this is American to try-!
Does anyone remember the the hidden reserve fuel tank?
I think that went for about 8-10 races. I’m not condoning the cheating itself and saying it should not be penalized. But don’t beat it with a 20ton hammer.
NASCAR has gotten to seem more about money than racing. The last place driver at daytona got what?- $250K?
Last place!, 43rd! 10years of that & your a multi- millionaire!
I’ll shut up now, feel like I could go on, have loved NASCAR racing for over 30yrs, since a rug rat, but am beginning to get disappointing –
-just think of me as that mouse shooting the finger at that hawk-one last time-!