Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed their prerace inspections at Sonoma, resulting in their cars being barred from Friday practice and qualifying. If their teams can get their cars to pass through inspection they will be allowed back on the track this weekend, whether it is in time for Saturday practice or Sunday only for the race.
The issue was an area that is apparently not measured by NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow templates, between the roof template and the nose template. The Hendrick teams believed this to be a "gray area", where they could possibly create an aerodynamic advantage by widening the fenders. NASCAR has maintained that there are no "gray areas" as far as the COT is concerned, and are expected to levy some harsh penalties on the two Hendrick teams.
The problem, as I see it, is that there is no penalty that NASCAR has imposed and can use as a precedent that will do any sufficient damage to either team's chances of ultimately winning the Nextel Cup, and I believe NASCAR knows it. I also believe (and this is just my opinion) that the two Hendrick crew chief/geniuses-of-the-moment, Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus, KNEW there was nothing NASCAR could really do (based on precedents) that would hurt their title chances. (How else to explain that the two HMS cars practlically already in the Chase were modified, but the other two HMS cars, currently 11th and 19th in points, did not take the same risk by modifying their cars. The 24 and 48 teams clearly had room to push the envelope, while the 5 and 25 did not.) Consider the following options NASCAR has at their discretion:
- Crew chief suspension.
The 48 team has been down this road. You could argue their four best races before the Chase were with Darian Grubb subbing for Knaus, with Jimmie winning the Daytona 500 and finishing no worse than sixth in the four races. An eight or twelve-race ban would put Knaus and Letarte back on the pit boxes in time for the Chase, and a NASCAR crew chief "suspension" only applies to the race tracks, so there will be little or no impact. (Ask Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has three top-12 finishes and has climbed from 14th to 12th in points with Tony Eury Jr's "suspension".
- Points penalty.
Is a 100-point penalty going to hurt Gordon at all? He is 730 points ahead in the race that really matters: the one to make the Chase field. His teammate Johnson is nearly 400 points clear of the Chase cut-off. A 100-point or even 200-point penalty will not adversely affect their chances at the Chase enough for a team as strong as HMS to be worried, and I don't think NASCAR is going to do more than double the most severe penalties they have ever imposed just to try and damage the two teams Chase chances, because they wouldn't if it were the 8 car or the 11 or 20 cars, I wouldn't think. Parking the cars for the weekend (including the race) would be nothing more than a glorified points-penalty. Remember, Gordon was considering skipping the event for his daughter's birth, anyway.
There is another factor here that I am positive the two crew chiefs considered before tinkering with the cars: because NASCAR changed the way they seed the drivers before the Chase, hitting the 24 and 48 with points-penalties will make LITERALLY no difference in the outcome of the season, because they have 40 bonus points each for wins, and no other team has more than one win this season.
What NASCAR should do
Thinking it through, there is only one thing NASCAR CAN do that WOULD have a definite impact on the two Hendrick teams' chance to win the Nextel Cup: a 100-point penalty imposed AT THE START OF THE CHASE. Nothing else NASCAR does would send a stronger message than that. They *have* to know the Hendrick teams tried to see how far they could stretch the limits on tweaking the COT, and they *have* to know that those two teams knew they were securely in the Chase and that they wouldn't even suffer if they dropped places in the standings due to the new Chase-format. They could even use this incident to set the precedent: do what you want to the COT, hit other cars on pit road (Kurt Busch), whatever, you are going to pay when it counts: during the Chase.
they say the #5 and #25 are put together in a different building than the #24 and #48 and that's why they weren't affected....not too sure about that to be honest.
As much as I would like to see them hurt from this, the only thing that I would be able to feel is fair is to give a 6 weeks suspension and 100 point penaly and $100,000 fine, the same as they die for Dale Jr. Anything more would not be fair. If they have anything less than what Jr. had, then there is inequity in the rulings.
Quite an interesting Quagmire.. Should the NASCAR officials inspect the prior race cars to see if this infraction is evident?? That is a big question that will remain unanswered unfortunately. Would be nice but I would imagine the cars are history now. What about the back up cars?? Check them and double the penalties if this is a fact.. Either way, as JJ said Jeff and Jimmie are so far ahead that it would not hurt their points standings but it might allow other drivers to close that gap a bit and catch up..Will be interesting to seee what NASCAR does to the HMS duo..
it would not be fair jimc1231. jr. was allowed to qualify and jr.'s car was actually in violation of a rule. these cars were tweaked in a area un touched by a template. i just think it is remarkable how they can bend that sheet metal.
William: A good sheet metal man can make bends you can never see but will make a whale of a difference in the wind tunnel. Why just a little hump or ridge can give beter down fore in specific areas that will easily go undetected by most inspectors..Is it cheating?? Naw It is just racing or how you interpet the rule book..
1. Is it only cheating when you get caught?
2. Both crew chiefs knew what they were doing and probably have done this before.
3. I like-no-LOVE the idea of taking points when the Chase starts. You can bet their points lead was a factor when they contemplated making changes to the body.
4. Make the crew chief suspension mean something, suspend them from all racing activities-to include working in the shop and contact with the team, Letarte for 6 weeks, Knaus-the rest of the season.
5. 10,000 hail Marys prior to the start of the race.
photo-heck no, but putting them in full arm casts isnt a bad idea and we could wire their jaws shut until their suspensions are over.
What part seemed over board,the hail Marys?
Last edited by mainsdoghouse on June 22nd at 9:11 PM.
The one thing we can always count on is NASCAR officiating to give us plenty to blog about. When they get done with their back room deals with owners and NASCAR we will have some more good stuff to talk about.
are we race fans or what the cars fit the template where they measured every thing else is a big grey area ive been at tech inspections and nascars inspecters are heiny holes you sissys need to use the word cheating properly an ilegal motor is cheating any thing else is just what is called creating a competetive edge and every team does it if you sissys want to bayotch do it about the fact brian france and his little ####s are jammimg this COT down every ones throats sorry for a moment i thought race fans had the capability to think like racers my bad go console each other at starbucks yuppies
What we need to know is nascar finding this out about the cars was it by past in races before this one, or was this the first time they did this and got nab. Hendricks had everyone beat in the COT cars and now maybe we know why. Jeff Gordons name comes up alot when its got tod with cheating. His pit crew use to pull his front fenders out, giveing him better down force, till they got busted for it. The pit offical made them push them back in before letting him go. They said it was cause of a rub on the side of car. The only wrong with that was they were pulling the other side out. lol
Good over-all comments, but I think there are a few things to consider here:I find it a bit surprising that Nascar would concentrate on a "downforce" issue when Sonoma is CLEARLY NOT a downforce affected race track (not saying that downforce isn't an issue, just not a MAIN issue as it would be in the mile 1/2 plus tracks).Nascar laid out all the rules on the table when it came to the COT vehicles, but what they DIDN'T do was stipulate what could or couldn't be considered "gray areas" therefore allowing teams to "look" for ways to get around the "forbidden areas". NO I'm not justifying ANY wrongdoings by ANY teams, all I'm saying is simply this,..Nascar called themselves making the playing feild more "even" by introducing the COT, well,..now we have teams doing EXACTLY what they did with the regular CUP cars,....FINDING WAYS TO WIN! And before all the HMS haters and bashers start pointing the finger too hard, just remember this,...the implication given by Nascar, was OUTSIDE the OFFICIAL TEMPLATE AREA!
Last edited by 20FourChevy on June 23rd at 7:21 AM.
i'm telling you dale jr. is the one that gets away with the slap on the wrist here if the 24 and 48 get 100 point, $100,000 penalties as well as having to start from the back at a road course. so the penalty is actually 100 points plus how ever far back they finish from the front. cuz you know that at least the 24 is the car to beat here. we'll see what nascar does i guess but the 24 and 48 fit the template. jr.s did not
I love the idea of docking both Gordon and Johnson 100 points at the start of the Chase. I think six weeks for Letarte (first time offender) and the rest of the CALENDAR YEAR is a fair suspension for Knaus, since he is a repeat offender.
You can't base the penalty on who the perpetrator is. The penalties need to be the same for everyone. Any fines are easier for the rich to pay. The only other thing you might do would be have a NASCAR jail, in the form of suspension for the driver as well as the Crew chief. But you have to work your way up to that.
The most you could do at this point is double the penalty assessed Earnhardt. The least sounds like the equivalent of the Earnhardt penalty. Discipline must be progressive to be affective. It can not be arbitrary.
If you guys want to watch fair and equal racing I suggest you switch to Indy. Or you can just wait a while and NASCAR racing will be just like the Indy races, less the cute women drivers.
I'd rather the Nextel Cup champion be decided over the entire season, but I think if you are going to have a Chase for the Nextel Cup, you should break out the twelve guys and have them scored separately, so I'm tracking the points both ways.
I also strongly advocate a NCAA football playoff, so there will be some posts about that showing up here, although I have written this blog for over a year and haven't gone there yet.
I can be reached via e-mail or AIM at jayjaydean at gmail dot com.
