Are NASCAR’s current string of penalties meaningless?
Quote selected text Published July 3rd, 2007 in NASCAR News
As I left New Hampshire International Speedway Sunday I got to thinking the punishment that NASCAR levied against the teams Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson prior to the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 and just how even more meaningless the punishments looked after the race was over.
After being found with illegal body modifications prior to the June 24 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, NASCAR supposedly came down hard on both teams. Gordon’s crew chief, Steve Letarte, and Johnson’s, Chad Knaus, were both suspended for six events, beginning with the race at NHIS. Each team was also docked 100 points in the driver and owner standings, fined $100,000 and each crew chief was put on probation through Dec. 31.
Neither Gordon nor Johnson looked to be suffering any from their punishment on Sunday at NHIS. Gordon finished second, in contention to go for the win over Denny Hamlin on the final lap. Johnson toward the front most of the day and finished fifth. Clearly the punishment had little or no effect on either team.
And why should they have slowed down at NHIS. The reality is the punishment, while sounding severe, is pointless.
Ok, the money and the probation, absolutely meaningless.
And the points? A meaningless sanction made even more hollow by the new Chase for the Championship format, that reseeds the 12 qualifying drivers with a base points standing of 5,000 points and 10 more points for each win they’ve earned in the first 26 races. So basically, as long as they’re in the top-12 after 26 races, a feat both teams would need at this point to have monumental meltdowns to not to accomplish, then the points punishment is basically cleared from their record for all intents.
More at courant.com
- Michael Waltrip statement on NASCAR’s ruling
- Hendrick responds to penalties given to his team, considers appeal
- Penalties likely for JR Motorsports and Hendrick
- Riggs says NASCAR penalties ‘don’t fit the crime’
- Speed and Monteiro Also Get Penalties in Hungary
Well, someone who is on the edge of making the chase could potentially be hurt by the 100pt penalty, but Gordon and Johnson certainly weren’t hurt by it at all.
I don’t think points penalties are the answer here. A 100 point fine doesn’t even make it to the realm of “slap on the wrist” and you can’t penalize people once the chase starts for something that they did back in week 8.
Of course, I think everyone agrees that monetary fines aren’t going to do any good, unless the fines get into the 6-figure range, and even then I’m not sure big teams like Hendrick would flinch at that.
I’m in the ever-growing group that thinks the only way NASCAR is going to show that they mean business is to sit a driver for a weekend. Whether you agree that these infractions were deserving of a penalty or not, you have to admit that the penalties the teams received were meaningless. Unless NASCAR ups the ante with their penalties, people will continue to try to bend the rules, whether NASCAR likes it or not.
-Jeff
I think it really does come to down to sitting the drivers for a week
or more [[depending on the severity of the infraction, obviously]].
Because yes, for the smaller teams stuff like this might work, but with
the big teams it’s not even making a dent, and I don’t think anyone
would disagree with me saying a little consistency would be a pleasant
change.
Taking the driver out of the mix is the one way nascar can apply the rule of law equally between small med and big teams. Think about it , no driver hurts the same big or little and there is only so many qualified drivers to step in.
At the least it’s better than what we have now and I know it will get the teams and owners attention much more than the $$ have.
I say start with the weekend. Do like they did at infineon-
You failed pre-practice tech? You miss the whole day.
You fail pre-qual tech, no qualifying run for you and a 15 minute happy hour sitting penalty.
You fail post-qual tech, no happy hour at all.
fail pre-race tech, just go home now.
plus 100points and 100K
Sit out the driver, members of the whole team , and ban them from the track . The cheating will stop and the media will have a hayday !!!!
Someone in the previous post stated something a little different and I believe it would be a whole lot more effective.
Instead of penalizing them 100 points NOW, let them keep their points, and if they make the chase, then they make the chase. If they make the chase, THEN take away their 100 points from that new current total.
I can’t remember what additional points a win bonus adds to their total, I believe it’s 10.
So if (insert driver) won 5 races heading into the Chase, his 50 point bonus would become -50 due to the 100 point infraction.
[Ex: Gordon: 5000 Johnson: 5000 Stewart (5 wins (5050) - 100 penalty): 4950 etc. ]
So in this example, Stewart went from a 50 point advantage to being 50 under.
That is much more of a impact than what it is now.
What do you guys think?
Andy, I like the concept, but I don’t see how you can penalize someone for something they may have done at the Daytona 500 26 races earlier… What if that person doesn’t make the chase? Does the penalty disappear? It certainly won’t mean much if you hit them with it and they didn’t make the chase… Worst case it might hurt their chances of coming in 13th, which isn’t the end of the world, since that is yet another joke (in my opinion).
I personally think they should still penalize someone even if it is 26 races earlier, they still did it, however, I agree there is a problem if they were not in the top 12 at the end. It’s just something to think about. Either way, it’s much better than the penalty system they have now. I guess what I mentioned is more appropiate for those in the top 12 because they all get impacted equally and fairly, where as today, Gordon wasn’t really even affected, where Junior had a bigger hit because he’s farther back in points.
This is not a good year for nascar and their rules.