Teams won’t listen until they’re suspended
Quote selected text Published June 29th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Doling out punishment for cheating has become nearly a monthly ritual for NASCAR this season. So has penalizing teams stiffly without dropping the largest hammer in the tool box: suspending a team – driver included – for a race.
On Tuesday, the sanctioning body penalized the teams of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for illegal modifications to the Car of Tomorrow at Infineon Raceway. Team owner Rick Hendrick said Thursday he won’t appeal the penalties.
Gordon and Johnson received exactly what Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team did when it failed COT inspection at Darlington Raceway in May. Their crew chiefs were suspended for six races and fined $100,000. The drivers were docked 100 points.
The penalties are severe. But if you’re a team comfortably in the Chase, they aren’t severe enough. Losing 100 points might drop you one or two spots in the standings, but once the Chase is determined, everyone is bunched up anyway. And seeding is based on wins.
The penalties might scare teams hanging around the 35th spot, the cutoff for getting a guaranteed spot in the race, or those barely in the Chase. But they don’t strike fear in the garages of the top teams.
“Until they park somebody for a race, you’re not going to get everybody’s attention,” Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said. “But the day you park a popular driver is the day I’ll be demanding money back from my purse and sanctioning fee from NASCAR because there will be some people not showing up because their favorite driver isn’t at the track. It puts NASCAR in a bind. It really does.”
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said that a long time ago
I totally agree!
So basically everyone here is against innovation in NASCAR?
innovation no, blatantly breaking the rules with the intent to hell yes.
i said earlyer this week park them! and then they will here you.
About time someone else said this besides the fans that have watched the fines get handed out for different penalties, even the more severe ones.
I love how they say 100 points and suspended crew chiefs make a difference. It don’t mean
shit in today’s racin for a few reasons
1. The chase (oh i’ in the top 12 still, bam! gap gone)
2. Anybody notice Jr. has run BETTER without Eury Jr recently (http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/dearnhar01/cup/#stats)
3. Didn’t Johnson lose his crew chief last year at the 500 for 4 races and he finished in
those 4 races, 1st, 2nd, 1st and 6th. (wow what good that did….)
No doubt in my mind you park those damn butt buddies or anyone else, hell they suspended
my driver in 02 for aggressive driving but blatant cheatings gets jack shit?!
Nice favoritism NASCAR.
none of you who agree with nascar knows anything about nascar racing history, nascar keeps going the way there going its going to be just like indy car racing. crap crap crap. so all you who think nascar is doing the right thing watch a indy car race then come back and run your mouth.
Isn’t the most points you can win in a race 185 or 195. They could just dock them those points if they wanted to. But they wont suspend teams. There is WAY too much money in sponsorships to do that. The companies will abandon Nascar if they were to stop them from having a car in the field with their company on it.
Jayson your DRIVER got penalized for something HE did. Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson didn’t mess with the fenders of their cars, their body shop did. Your drivers car was allowed to race with another driver. You have to remember 100 points is half of the maximum points that someone can win in a race.