NASCAR blows gasket with harsh penalties

By Jeremy Wise
Media General News Service
Published: July 11, 2008

Imagine living in a society where you are placed in front of the firing squad for stealing a hotel pen, stick of gum or a paper clip.
Imagine working in a place where at the utterance of one curse work or one mistake in job performance, you were fired and the company sued you for all previous pay.
Martin Truex Jr. and his team probably feel that way now.
In case you missed it, Truex’s car was discovered to be 1-16th of an inch too narrow at practice at Daytona International Speedway last week.
His team’s punishment? Suspensions for crew chief Kevin Manion and car chief Gary Putnam for six weeks, a $100,000 fine for Manion and the docking of 150 points from the team and driver.
Pretty steep for a mistake that is the width of a dime.
The points are what hurt the most. In NASCAR, the top 12 drivers qualify for the Chase for the Cup, or the championship races.
The penalties dropped Truex from 14th to 18th. The 150-point penalty is the equivalent of a sixth-place finish without leading a lap.
I understand that 1-16th of an inch can mean a vast improvement in speed. Smaller wind resistance and less mass can aid in faster velocity.
Truex apparently is a first-time violator. I can understand the penalties is this was a second or third offense.
NASCAR wants to cut down on cheating, and no one can blame them.
What if the errors are mistakes and not anyone wanting to cheat?
In an article on http://www.espn.com, Truex said, “We brought a new car to Daytona and it fit all of the templates at our shop. It doesn’t appear to have been anything intentional on our part but it was still our responsibility.”
To check the heights and widths, measuring devices are used.
What if the devices were slightly bent, bent where the naked eye cannot tell?
This penalty is not the first huge levy against a team. Robby Gordon got the hammer in March to the tune of 100 points.
I understand NASCAR wants to cut down on cheating. I understand they want to eliminate competitive advantages.
If they continue to blow gaskets, they may not find that anyone will play by their rules. They may find that everyone will just quit.
A team was fined and docked points because of a missing bolt.
The cars have to be PERFECT. That kind of stress will make for a good increase in mental breakdowns, and who knows what that will lead to.
If NASCAR insists on being so stringent, here’s a thought: build the cars for all the teams.
At least the possibilty of mistakes in the bodies are eliminated that way.
Give the teams the bodies, and give them time to build the chassis and the engines.
NASCAR checks those anyway. They can catch the cheaters there.

Jeremy Wise is the sports editor of The Enterprise Ledger.