Gordon And Johnson Penalized: Crew Chiefs Out For Six
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 5:34pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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According to NASCAR, they have made their position clear on playing with the COT and that it is nothing like the previous car what so ever.
Both Johnson and Gordon have been docked 100 points (Driver and Owner), fined $100,000, and their crew chiefs (Letarte and Knaus) have been suspended for 6 events.
The Hendrick teams have been putting in overtime since returning from Sonoma in preparation for this possibility. Their preparation was obviously not in vein.
This marks a new era for NASCAR, and gives the appearance that it is becoming more like the IROC series was. Look at the cars that will roll out at Daytona, and then compare them to the same car at Chicago. If you can’t see an obvious difference in the body, you’re blind as a bat.
However with the COT this isn’t the case. Apparently anything put on it will be considered a NASCAR approved part, and there is no room for ingenuity in engineering. Isn’t that the point? Here’s the rules, now make your car as fast as possible without violating it? The car fit the templates, so where is the problem? What happened to being able to go back and fix it if it wasn’t illegal, and then bringing it back through?
What if someone comes through and their car is a tick low in one corner because a bolt wasn’t tightened enough? Previously, they could fix it and come back through. The tech process is not just an approval process, but a process where it can sometimes help a team avoid a serious issue and subsequent wreck.
So as NASCAR welcomes in an era they will no doubt taut as the era of diversity, thanks to Montoya pulling it off at Sonoma, they also seem to be saying goodbye to the past and the ability for teams to play within the rules to make their car better than their neighbors.
Yet, why wasn’t the #5 or #25 involved in this issue?
To me this is simple. Their cars that they brought had already been raced previously. The #24 and #48 were both new cars that had not been on the track yet. So, it comes down to when and how the body was fabricated.
Unfortunately, NASCAR is also in the position of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Had there been no additional penalties, they would be criticized by those who don’t understand as showing Hendrick favoritism. Then on the flip side, they open themselves to criticism where they are apparently taking away any areas for the teams to work in.
Certainly if one thought they were skirting a gray area, then would they really put it right in plain view to anyone with two eyes who could see it? I don’t think so, Tim.
So where is the line? NASCAR is obviously drawing it in the sand, so we’ll see what happens from here on out.
Filed Under: Drivers, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Hendrick Motorsports #48, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Sonoma/Infineon, Teams, Tracks
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