November 17th - November 21st, 2008
Thursday: Editor's Note: This column has been postponed until Monday due to technical issues for Matt McLaughlin. NASCAR's testing ban for 2009 has race teams and fans up in arms. Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off and puts the ban under the microscope, dissecting the pros and cons of cutting costs in this way.
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What's The Call? Did The Penalty Fit The Crime For Dale Earnhardt, Jr. And The No. 8 Team?
Vito Pugliese and Amy Henderson · Wednesday May 16, 2007
Editor’s Note : The following is a special edition of Frontstretch’s What’s the Call? Occasionally throughout the season, two of your favorite Frontstretch writers will duke it out in a debate concerning one of NASCAR’s big controversies. Don’t let us be the only ones to speak our minds, though…be sure to read both sides and let us know what you think about the situation in the comment section below!
Today’s Question : Earlier this week, crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended for six weeks after using unapproved rear wing mounting brackets on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.‘s No. 8 Chevrolet. Additionally, Junior got docked 100 driver points and Teresa Earnhardt lost 100 owner points on the No. 8 car, penalties which dropped the team to 14th and 15th in those standings, respectively.
Considering some of the other penalties imposed this season, did this punishment fit the crime… or was NASCAR a little too harsh on this one?
Lighten Up, NASCAR...No One Likes A Bully
Vito Pugliese
On Tuesday, NASCAR came down like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, flying off the top rope and dropping the big elbow onto Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Eury, Jr. The Bo and Luke Duke of Nextel Cup were smacked upside the head with a 100 point deduction for the driver and a $100,000 fine and six race suspension for the crew chief. What did they do to earn such a penalty, you ask? Slip some super saucy stuff into the fuel? Big motor? Soaked tires? Traction Control? No. Actually, they had some old brackets left on the trunk lid for mounting the rear spoiler.
Oh, the humanity.
The effect of this oversight would have provided no more than a whopping 13 lbs. of additional rear downforce to the back of the Budweiser Chevrolet. To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent to a performance advantage of placing an 18-pack of The King of Beers on the decklid. As much as he was running into the wall Sunday, smashing the fenders and quarterpanels in along the way, Junior probably lost about 10 times that amount over the course of the race. With that in mind, I’m guessing those 13 lbs. wouldn't have helped him much, anyway.
Tony Eury, Jr. contends that this was an honest mistake, the result of some wind tunnel testing that was overlooked before the car even got to the track. Considering that Dale Earnhardt Incorporated just let their reason for existence submit his letter of resignation last week while handing him the pen with which to write it, that's not so hard to believe. In reality, though, Tony Jr. and company were probably toying with the inspectors a little bit to push the rules and see what NASCAR would and wouldn't let slide. Well, they found out alright…and it didn’t turn out so good for them.
Now hang on a minute, though. Didn't NASCAR come out and say that for the first few CoT races this year, they were going to be a little lax with the rules? They also said they would come down hard on anyone who tried to deliberately defeat the wing or splitter, but come on – 100 points? It's not like they installed an ADJUSTABLE REAR WINDOW in the car like Chad Knaus did last year for Daytona 500 qualifying. How many points did he get fined? Oh, yeah – ZERO. As precise as NASCAR has been with their inspections, using that frightening looking "claw" and making templates for everything down to the hood pins, you'd think they would have caught this infraction right away. The rear wing is kind of important, so much so that NASCAR is the one responsible for supplying them.
If there is any consistency with this penalty at all, it is that this sport will happily levy large fines and send guys home at the drop of a hat for rules infractions. Inconsistency proves to be NASCAR's habit of effectively handing out the death penalty for a parking violation. Mark Martin was fined 46 points in 1990 for a carburetor spacer that was welded, not bolted, to the intake manifold. The inspector put his hands on it no less than three times that weekend before that penalty was called; but in the end, those 46 points were taken away, enough to cost Martin the Championship that year. On the other hand, Dale Earnhardt’s crew ran onto the apron of the racetrack at Charlotte to service the No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy after the wheels fell off of it during a pit stop. The team was not fined any points for the safety infraction. Fair? Hardly. But, it's NASCAR's prerogative – their show. They make the rules. You can play by them or stay home.
In this instance, NASCAR's traditional 25-point deduction and $50,000 fine would have been appropriate. They are, no doubt, coming down hard due to not only this being the first CoT incident, but because it occurred for a driver of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.‘s magnitude. If I were Tony Stewart, I would be making darn sure everything was torqued to spec and built to template. I’d even help the inspectors evaluate it. If he gets caught with anything, NASCAR could very well take from him 1,000 points, Eldora, and his first born male child.
Bottom line, NASCAR needs to lighten up a little bit with these rules and penalty infractions. Part of the legend and allure of the sport has been the cat and mouse game always played between the crews and the inspectors. "Tom and Jerry" wouldn't have been much fun if Tom ate Jerry 30 seconds into each episode. There is a BIG difference between creative engineering, pushing the rules, and flat out cheating. I'll always be a fan first. I love to see the creative side of the sport flourish, and to be honest, I'm a bit more intrigued as to how the No. 24 was able to refill that minnow pond outside Turn 3 with coolant than I am with Tony Jr.'s wing brackets used in qualifying.
Race Fans Got What They Wanted With A Harsher Penalty…Now Live With It
Amy Henderson
NASCAR can't do anything right. I'll readily admit I'm the first one to speak when the sanctioning body does something less than brilliant, but this time the complaining has gone too far. First, fans reacted to rules infractions over the past couple of seasons, incensed that the penalties are too light. Now, when NASCAR handed down a 100-point, $100 grand, six-race crew chief suspension to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., it's “too harsh.”
Wait a second? Too harsh? It's EXACTLY the penalty NASCAR said teams would get if they altered the wing on the Car of Tomorrow! Fans called for clear penalties, and when NASCAR granted their wish by making it clear that this is what teams would get, now it's too much?
The No. 8 team has nobody to blame but themselves. The incorrect mounting bolts they used to mount the rear wing might even have been forgiven by the sanctioning body had the team made sure the wing's angle was correct. Why does such a small part get such a big punishment? What looks incriminating is the timing of the measurement. The wing (which, had it been mounted with the correct bolts could not be at an illegal angle as the newer bolts prevent it) was at the maximum legal angle before and after practice. It was legal before qualifying. Then, after the qualifying run, but before the race, the angle was two degrees past the maximum amount of sixteen. Two degrees may not sound like much, but on a downforce track like Darlington, it could make a significant difference in the car's speed.
What all of this means is that either the wing settled two degrees on its own during qualifying (possible, but unlikely given it didn't change during a much longer practice session), it was accidentally moved by the crew working around it, or it was adjusted on purpose to gain an advantage. Intentional or not, only a few people might know, and they're sticking to the "accidental" angle. But you know what? It doesn't matter. This wasn't a part breaking or malfunctioning on the track that caused the infraction. This was an unapproved part and a subsequent aerodynamic alteration.
Last year, the No. 48 team had a similar infraction. All the parts used in that case were legal, but in the manner they were used, gave driver Jimmie Johnson a slight aerodynamic advantage. When they found the violation after Daytona 500 qualifying, they reacted with a large fine and the suspension of crew chief Chad Knaus. Fans railed that NASCAR hadn't done enough. Then, in 2007, the No. 9 and 17 teams had unapproved aerodynamic modifications in Daytona 500 qualifying. Perhaps in response to earlier complaints, NASCAR lowered the hammer, suspending the crew chiefs for four races and docking 50 championship points from each team.
The fans, still not satisfied, complained that the rules were too arbitrary. NASCAR then announced that further violations, in particular with the Car of Tomorrow and especially the wing, would bring penalties of 100 points, $100,000, and suspensions. Once again, they did what the fans wanted and published what the penalty would be. And now that isn't good enough, because it's "too harsh."
Guess what, race fans? The penalty is right in line with what teams were told to expect. It should not have been a surprise to D.E.I. or their fans that suspensions could be handed out. Perhaps if Jeff Gordon had had the same violation and penalty instead of the sport's Most Popular Driver, their reaction would be different? If it's the driver involved, shame on everyone. NASCAR gave the fans what they wanted in harsher penalties and publicized punishments. No matter who the first recipient was, the penalty was fair, and race fans need to realize they got their wish. Just next time, be careful what you wish for – because you never know which team will be on the receiving end!
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