Thread: NASCAR decides on Tues Jimmy Johmson Appeal

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I agree Dave. For me it really depends on if the template ever touched the car. If the template never touched the car and it was never brought to inspection for that race, then there should be no penalty. But we are talking NASCAR here. It's their ball and if you do not like what they do they will take it and go home so no one can play.

Not saying that Chad has not pushed the enevlope so far that is about to rip before. But this time ??????

You can rest assured that IF the TEMPLATE touched the car, it fit perfectly-----------

They have a guy in there shop (Preston Pelltier) who is the only one around that can make that piece which is a compound curve one way and then reverses to a compound curve the other way , in one piece---Everybody else does 2 pieces and welds them together which then takes hammering and bondo ing of 3 welds vs 2 which adds weight--I'd wager that Jimmie's roof was a better piece that the othe rteams and the inspector is really backwards on this item (all the others are off) I don't believe that they have a templet for that portion of the roof, and of course all the others LOOK different.

BUT----its probably getting them to look in another direction----

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

You can rest assured that IF the TEMPLATE touched the car, it fit perfectly-----------

They have a guy in there shop (Preston Pelltier) who is the only one around that can make that piece which is a compound curve one way and then reverses to a compound curve the other way , in one piece---Everybody else does 2 pieces and welds them together which then takes hammering and bondo ing of 3 welds vs 2 which adds weight--I'd wager that Jimmie's roof was a better piece that the othe rteams and the inspector is really backwards on this item (all the others are off) I don't believe that they have a templet for that portion of the roof, and of course all the others LOOK different.

BUT----its probably getting them to look in another direction----

Jerry,you sound like a feller who's been thru a few tech inspections. Purty smart for a straight line guy It ain't cheatin till ya get caught ! And It ain't cheatin to fail a pre race inspection no way no how !

Remember when Rousch camp showwed up with the car still setup from testing days earlier? They hadn't removed the intake manifold that they were testing at a completely different track. The car hadn't even gone into inspection yet! It wasn't even prepped to race! NASCAR charged Rousch with "cheating" and pulled points and fined ROUSCH and Martin.

At the end of the season, Mark was just shy on points to win the championship!

It doesn't pay to twist NASCAR's panties to often!

NA$CAR owns the sandbox, therefore they decide who and how the other 'kids' play.

This is how their rules read:

"The penalties concern Section 12-1 of the NASCAR Rule Book "Actions detrimental to stock car racing;" Section 12-4(J): "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the Race Equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR Rule Book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the Event;" and Section 20-2.1(E): "If in the judgment of NASCAR Officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance, will not be permitted: Unapproved car body modifications."

Nothing said about a template - it's eyeball check, tape measure, whatever THEY, NA$CAR determines - right, wrong, fair, unfair. All Hendrick and company are doing by continual appeals is touching up that bright red target for the next encounter when Knaus tries another dubious trick.

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I have to say that as far as I am concerned they have lost at least one, more than average, fan. They have been trying for years to push fans away. It worked this time.

They should go back 30 years or so & run the sheetmetal of the day. If it weren't for creative paint you couldn't tell Chevy from Ford from Dodge or Toyota. If they are suposed to be Stock cars and CARS being the key word I get tired of watching cars go around the track the only real differance being the driver.

There are new body designs in the works for next year that (allegedly) will be more identifiable as to the manufacturer. Heck, I can't tell what most cars are or who made them on the highway anymore, so many of them have similar designs! With the tight constraints by NASCAR to keep the cars close to equal, individuality in design is a thing of the past and unfortunately without the tight constraints the races would be a runaway led by whichever team had the best aero package and horsepower which in turn would make racing in the Sprint Cup series about the same cost as running an F1 car!!!!

I can't even imagine the amount of time and work the NASCAR tech people have to do each and every week just to keep all these crew chiefs, car chiefs, and engineers walking the straight and narrow!!! NASCAR isn't perfect, as an organization they're bound to make mistakes but they do a good job of correcting them when the flaws show up. They must be doing things right most of the time, certainly not any other sanctioning bodies in the country running an organization even half the size of NASCAR, and they've been doing it since the 50's!

As with anything done at a professional level, there are lots of people who will jump all over NASCAR whenever they make a mistake or make an unpopular ruling, but seldom notice how smooth and efficient the operation is on a day to day basis!!!

I get a sense from some of the guys here in the past the NASCAR clean up crews where not that good.What I saw after the jet fuel burn for those guys to do what they did to make the track race ready was a level of professionalism that is hard to criticize and one that all racing sanctioning bodies could take a page of their play book to study.I totally agree with Dave S.For NASCAR to run the races they do and the way they do it is a feat most couldn't handle.
The only thing I don't agree with is to take points away from the driver.These teams have become huge as NASCAR has.It is possible given how departmentalize the teams has gotten that the hired driver isn't in the loop about if the team is cheating or not.Career wise a driver's time in the seat is really short term(short a example like Mark Martin) so for a driver to make his mark on the sport and get caught in the middle I think isn't fair.

Originally Posted by 1gary

The only thing I don't agree with is to take points away from the driver.These teams have become huge as NASCAR has.It is possible given how departmentalize the teams has gotten that the hired driver isn't in the loop about if the team is cheating or not.Career wise a driver's time in the seat is really short term(short a example like Mark Martin) so for a driver to make his mark on the sport and get caught in the middle I think isn't fair.

It is a "TEAM" sport! Just 'cause they identified the driver doesn't mean he's responsible or has knowledge of any wrong doing! But, it's NASCARS method of getting the TEAMS attention. They could just as easily penalize the team with nobody named but then it won't have the same effect. But owner & driver points are precious! So it ups the ante to hit them there.

Kind of like robbing a bank the getway driver gets to go to jail too

The fines probably don't mean a thing to the Hendricks organization, just the price of doing business. Not having the crew chief and car chief on the box at a race is no big deal, they can watch the live broadcast and communicate with the crew by cell phone. If it wasn't the constant threat of losing 25 driver points every team in NASCAR would be cheating flagrantly!!!!

Except most sponsers HATE to see "their" team in such a situation, tarnishes the image, right? I'm sure Lowe's isn't very happy with all the controversy.

Originally Posted by 34_40

Except most sponsers HATE to see "their" team in such a situation, tarnishes the image, right? I'm sure Lowe's isn't very happy with all the controversy.

Well, yes and no... Lowe's doesn't get any of the blame, but they do get all the publicity every time the team is talked about or pics of the car shown. Probably not a real image issue, racers try to cheat, just part of the game. I don't know, good or bad it's getting the name "Lowe's in front of the public for free much more then if the C pillar issue had never happened.....

I agree, it's free advertising but, Lowe's want's a winner, not a cheater as Hendricks and Knaus have begun acquiring the reputation as being. On a couple stock car forums I vist, the "haters" are outraged and raising a stink that NASCAR better do the right thing (whatever that is!?!?!)...

Much ado 'bout nothing I feel. It's what a crew chief does. That's his job! I applaud Chad for pushing the envelope! While I am not a Hendrick fan, I think NASCAR has to resolve this quickly now as dragging it out doesn't have a good feeling about it.

I wonder what the "fans" of today would think if they had paid attention when Smoky Yunick what running race cars?!?! Smoky pushed and bent the envelope at every race he brought his cars to! All the big names became a big name because they pushed it to the limit, otherwise they were just an also ran!