Robby Gordon was penalized for using an improper nose on his Dodge Charger. The infraction was discovered during opening day inspection for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 8.
Driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been penalized with the loss of 50 championship driver points, while car owner Rick Hendrick has been penalized 50 championship owner points. Crew chief Chad Walter has been fined $25,000 and suspended for the next six NASCAR Nationwide Series events until April 9 and placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2008 for a violation found following practice on Feb. 14. The team used parts that were illegal and altered their rear spoilers.
The No. 0, No. 1, No. 14, No. 64, and No. 77 cars were all found to be using the oil reservoir tank cover was not fastened securely. These violations were discovered during post-qualifying inspection on Feb. 15. Each of the cars' respective drivers and owners — Kertus Davis/Johnny Davis for the No. 0; Johnny Sauter/James Finch for the No. 1; David Gilliland/Carl Haas for the No. 14; David Stremme/Ed Rensi for the No. 64 and Cale Gale/ DeLana Harvick for the No. 77 have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and owner championship points
**UPDATES;3/5/8 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A NASCAR appeals committee on Monday overturned all the penalties levied against Rusty Wallace Racing for an infraction discovered on David Stremme's car before the season-opening Nationwide Series race.
Newt Moore, crew chief for Johnny Sauter at Phoenix Racing, had his suspension reduced from six weeks to two weeks by the three-member National Stock Car Racing Commission. Charlie Wilson, crew chief for Cale Gale at Kevin Harvick Inc., had his $15,000 fine reduced to $5,000 by a separate three-member panel.
for the 0 not good-",
it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR.The Commission notes that crew chief, Gene Allnutt, began serving his suspension last week, so the adjusted penalty notice to correct for the deferral will reflect this.(from NASCAR.com)
for the 14 something different
By a majority vote, the National Stock Car Racing Commission decided to amend two of the three original penalties assessed by NASCAR as follows:
• Loss of 25 Nationwide Series Championship Car Owner Points and a $15,000.00 fine for car owner Carl Haas, with the fine payable by the current majority owner of Richardson-Haas Motorsports, Donnie Richardson.
• Loss of 25 Nationwide Series Championship Driver Points for driver David Gilliland.
• Suspension from NASCAR for the next six (6) Nationwide Series Championship Events; suspension from NASCAR until April 9 (not including testing), and probation until Dec. 31 for crew chief Robert Edwards.(from NASCAR.com)
In the Craftsman Truck Series, the Daytona race winning No. 30 Germain Racing crew and driver Todd Bodine were penalized 25 driver/owner points while their crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. was fined $10,000, suspended for the next four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events and placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2008 for infractions found during pre-qualifying inspection. They were using a device which reduced the bed panel height during inspection.
The No. 33 truck, driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. was found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (truck parts, components or equipment that doesn't conform to NASCAR Rules); and 20B-3.1.1 (spoiler braces exceeded the maximum one inch width). Crew chief Rick Ren has been fined $5,000 as a result of the infraction. This violation occurred during opening day inspection on Feb. 12.
There are more in the article.
Now I thought pre-race inspection was just that, after failure you were give a chance ot 'fix' it and re-inspect.
Post qualifying I understand -sort of- why not just back of the pack them?
""We're getting penalized for a crime we didn't commit, and we're going to appeal," Gordon told FOXSports.com's Lee Spencer. "It was a manufacturer's error."
YeeMum,
Thanks for posting all of this. Current poll of fans shows 41% think Robbie shouldn't have been penalized and another 43% think the penalty was too harsh. Of course, Cup officials couldn't care less what fans think.
Most interesting to me is the Todd Bodine deal. That sounds more serious to me than most of the others. Surprised he didn't get harsher penalties.
Yee- appreciate you opening up the discssion back here in the blogs..as you say, hard to have a reasonable discussion on the main pages.
Glad to see Robby is appealing. That penalty seemed particularly harsh esp since it was caught before the race and changed. Also, with the team change et al seems to be an oversight not intentional. I hope it has legs!! 100 points, $$ and losing his crew chief says NASCAR is not foolin around with mods on the COT. Perhaps NASCAR is easing up on drivers being able to express themselves but clearly not the crews!!
I agree that the Bodine and even Earnhardt Jr infractions are much worse and clearly intentional. I dunnow what Jr's crew was thinking trying to modify that car!?!? He is one of the best superspeedway drivers out there...he really doesnt need that teeny-tiny little bit o'help does he??
It’s my understanding it’s the difference is between an Avenger nose and a Charger nose?
Anyone else have more?
Thanks Kristen.
Upon further research it appears Jr and the trucks were not 'accidents'
You echoed what I said in my last blog.
What were they thinking????????????
(hence the "Here's your Sign" reference)
ADDED NOTE The origional article with the detail above has gone "poof" I'm glad I did C/P it now.
Last edited by YeeMum_ on February 20th at 4:26 PM.
ASSCAR - All the above handded out but if you win a race and don't past post race you still get to keep the win. Now thats saying something and if the others teams just figure away to loosen that cover while they walk it down to start the race they would have a win.
I joke about this last year, If I knew my team couldn't win the Daytona 500 match up with the big boys and had to cut a few corners to make my cars as good. Why not. They can't take away the win or the trophy for not passing post race inspection.
The oil pan lid being loos helps the air flow and keeps the car down force which could be a good thing. But I would be worried about the fumes ? Brings you back to the Days of Thunder movie and Harry shaving off the firewall and fumes getting into the car.
A charger nose or avenger nose is the same as the old Ply. Duster Body and the old Dodge dart Body. Only differences were the marque and the grill. Same body configuration. Mopar was famous for that. I once bought a new Dodge Dart in the 70's and the trunk lid emblem said Duster right off the showroom floor. The R. Gordon infraction was picking at straws and to be penalized after he switched to the right so called front end????
Most of the infractions on pre race inspections should allow for correction and not be fined.. Post race inspections are another story.
Come on NASCAR. Get a grip. How nit picky can you be?
Did you all really think that NASCAR was just going to forget about Robbie's little stunt up in Canada last year?
Oh no. NASCAR is going to make Robbie's life miserable this year. I wouldn't be suprised if they aren't trying to get him to quit...to chase him off. Evidently, NASCAR has decided to start exacting their revenge right away. I guarantee, if hell should freeze over and Robbie Gordon actually wins a Cup race this year...he will fail post race and lose the win. Even though precident says that he should keep the win.
Robbie better realize that NASCAR has it's own set of "Robbie's Rules", and those rules are not the same for other drivers. No it's not fair, but since when has NASCAR ever been concerned with being fair?
BigDaddy,
I concur that Cup officials have an even longer memory than Jimmie Spencer and Jimmie Spencer "never forgets" - lol. But I also predict Robbie is likely to have his best season ever in Cup racing this year. The reason I believe that is the Car of Today has been reported to be a handful to wheel. Well, in my mind, that bodes well for Robbie, for Tony Stewart, and for Kyle Busch. They have the best car control in Cup racing and can do things with ill handling race cars that many drivers can't do with a car that is handling perfect. The key for Robbie will be to find some way to avoid giving Cup officials the opportunity to suspend him which I agree may be a huge challenge for him.
Also to Yee or anyone else with whom Lisa H will still communicate (everyone but me I assume), can you find out what a 3 m track is? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or mean-spirited, I just don't know what she meant. It could be a typo and refer to California Speedway which is a 2 mile track or it could just be something going way over this oldtimers head.
Last edited by HoosierRacer13 on February 21st at 8:08 AM.
Hoosier...Lisa is referring to another blog where Dwindy was asking about speeds on Superspeedways and the discussion turned to the possibility of a 3 mile track being built.
Also, a lot of us are misspelling and I am guilty of this as well, its not Robbie its Robby Gordon...I think we all just want him to be like Jimmie!
Last edited by klvalus on February 21st at 8:36 AM.
Thanks Kristen. See I'm just totally out of the loop on any proposed 3 mile track. The cars are too fast for Daytona and Dega so why would anyone want a longer track?
Also thanks on Robby. Yeah that's come up before and it seems for awhile everyone gets it right and then we all end up back on the Robbie spelling. You rock girl. Go back and read my response to your post regarding my proposed petition. ;)
I think she was refering to the mythical superspeedway in NYC. Trump, who was being courted as an investor, wanted his track to be bigger and faster than any other track out there. He proposed a 3 mile track. This idea was shot down in flames, and there is no track on Staten Island.
Reading some of the other blogs on the R Gordon it appears there are quite a few who disgree with the ruling.
Alas it is NASCAR so they'll decide as they wish.
You can get fined for an improper nose? I had a glass of red wine like that last week.
Sounds like the Amtrak trains with the sleek aerodynamic bullet at the front. Turns out they're plastic--they just make the trains look like they go faster.
YeeMum, I know it's beating a dead horse. But the appeal is tomorrow. So it's still relevent...
I think NASCAR should be concerned about the reunification of American open wheel racing. If NASCAR is smart, they will try to maintain some of their core fans. Robbie Gordon's team represents what NASCAR used to be. Therefore, core fans wheather they like Robbie or not, are rallying for him based on principle. NASCAR has had a free ride the last 10 years, with little competition. It would be a mistake for NASCAR to assume they can ignore the concerns of the core fan in this or other matters. jmo
CR~It is relevent!- No matter who the driver is, this is TOO much. Dodge even made a statement that they are the ones that sent the parts in question. I have ranted on a few other blogs about the Robby Gordon 'incident'
cj and I had quite an exchange.
We will know tomorrow, eh?
Avid NASCAR fan. .I am generally quite friendly, and I don't bite (much).
- I like comments, I bet you do too. So I will comment.
I am not here for a pat on the head, however, I would like a wee bit of a comment if you happen to read anything I write.
According to my sources I am the first person to get 2 Game Balls in the same week. Check out "Hatchetman's parade of sports" ..March 2008 accused of being Best "most congenial" blogger: by LisaH
GGW Racing crew chief #2
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