 |
Robby Gordon pleaded his case and was satisfied. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images) |
Auto racing notes
It was a busy week in what already has been a busy season for the National Stock Car Racing Commission, NASCAR's appellate court. It is where those who have run afoul of the rule book can plead their innocence, present their evidence, and argue to have their penalties amended, or in some cases overturned.
This week alone, the commission considered six cases, including the matter of Robby Gordon Motorsports. NASCAR penalized Gordon 100 owner points, 100 driver points, and fined crew chief Frank Kerr $100,000 and hit him with a six-race suspension and probation until Dec. 31 after Gordon's No. 7 Dodge was presented for opening day inspection with an "unapproved front bumper cover."
Gordon, who threatened to bolt NASCAR for the reunified open-wheel series if his appeal was rejected, argued the bumper cover was installed as delivered from the manufacturer and that it did not provide a competitive advantage since it was discovered prior to being allowed on the racetrack, and that the bumper met the templates.
The commission reinstated Gordon's owner and driver points, lifted the suspension against Kerr, but increased his fine to $150,000.
"We are grateful the commissioners rescinded the points penalty and suspension, but disappointed by the fine," Gordon said in a statement. "Still, we see this as a victory for Robby Gordon Motorsports. We feel like justice was done and appreciate NASCAR creating a system that allowed us to take our appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Commission."
The other cases the commission heard this week stemmed from penalties issued during post-qualifying inspection Feb. 15 for the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.
In the matter of JD Motorsports, the commission upheld NASCAR's penalties, calling for the loss of 25 owner points for Johnny Davis, the loss of 25 driver points for Kertus Davis, and a $15,000 fine, a six-race suspension, and probation until Dec. 31 for crew chief Gene Allnutt.
The commission amended NASCAR's penalty against Charles Wilson, crew chief of the No. 77 car fielded by Kevin Harvick Inc., by reducing his fine to $5,000 and his suspension to four races. Harvick and rookie driver Cale Gale did not appeal their penalties.
Phoenix Racing appealed its penalities and had them amended. The $15,000 fine assessed crew chief Newt Moore was shifted to car owner James Finch. Moore's suspension was reduced from six weeks to two, while his suspension, the loss of 25 owner points to Finch, and the loss of 25 driver points to driver Johnny Sauter were upheld.
Richardson-Haas Motorsports had its penalty similarly amended, with the $15,000 fine to crew chief Robert Edwards assessed to majority owner Donnie Richardson. Edwards's six-race suspension and probation until Dec. 31, as well as the loss of 25 car owner and 25 driver points, were upheld.
In the matter of Rusty Wallace Racing, however, the commission rescinded NASCAR's penalties (loss of 25 owner points, 25 driver points, and a $15,000 fine, six-race suspension, and probation until Dec. 31 for crew chief Steve Darne).
After NASCAR hit Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards with a severe 100-point deduction of points for a similar infraction - an unfastened oil tank reservoir cover - following his victory last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, car owner Jack Roush, who was also docked 100 points, wasn't feeling particularly lucky about his chances of winning an appeal.
NASCAR's penalties, which included a $100,000 fine and six-race suspension of crew chief Bob Osborne, caused Edwards to drop out of the lead in the Sprint Cup driver standings to seventh.
"I'm not a fan of the commission," Roush said yesterday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "I prefer to have my issues adjudicated by a court of my peers, as we do in our broader society. It's not a happy thing whenever we have to go to a NASCAR court and sit down and talk about things gone wrong.
"In 22 years of being involved with this thing [NASCAR], I've never gotten any relief and we've appealed several times. One of the times, I carried my polygraph things in there and it was ruled out of order because it was considered not to be evidentiary. I don't look forward to doing that."
Stung by accusations lobbed by
"We may be pushed by a sponsor to do it, but Jack has no heart in going before that commission to have questions answered that have already been asked and answered," Roush said. "I think enlightenment is not one of the tools that would be useful for them. I think, for the most part, they're predisposed for one reason or the other and it's a rubber-stamp thing."
No consolation
Dale Earnhardt Jr., runner-up to Edwards at Las Vegas, said yesterday he would have felt no joy if NASCAR had stripped Edwards of the victory. "When it comes down to it, you line them up and you race and the guy that crosses the finish line first is the winner," Earnhardt said. "If you got out-cheated, you didn't do your homework, you know what I mean? You didn't do your homework. That's just the way it is, so I do feel like guys should keep wins like it is now." Earnhardt said he wasn't certain he could have caught Edwards anyway. "Those guys are learning things and doing things and they were wild and crazy enough to try it," he said. "I got to applaud them for the effort that they made to try to win the race." Earnhardt also acknowledged, "I myself have been guilty of pushing the rule book and breaking the rule book. But I can't stand here and be hypocritical toward Carl and how he won the race. We got outran and we got outfoxed not only just behind the wheel but in the shop as well." . . . When Jeff Gordon violently hit an inner wall near an opening for emergency vehicles on the backstretch of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, "I was just blown away about how big the impact was and the way the car spun around and how much I moved around in the seat," he said. The sudden impact was so heavy that it ripped the radiator from the engine compartment. Although Gordon walked away, he criticized track owner Bruton Smith for not having those walls covered by a SAFER barrier. "I was mad [Sunday], and I was harsh on 'em," Gordon said. "But . . . when you hit a wall like we did, I want to see a SAFER wall there."
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com; material from race teams, sponsors, manufacturers, track publicity departments, and various sanctioning bodies was used in this report.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
