NASCAR Talk

Carl Edwards and the #99 Roush Fenway team got quite a smackdown from NASCAR officials today. The announcement comes three days after Edwards piloted his Ford to the win at Las Vegas and then did not pass post race inspection.

The car was found to have an oil tank cap that was not secured, which supposedly allows air to flow more freely in the engine. Today, it was decided he was in violation of several NASCAR rules and he was penalized accordingly. Edwards was the Sprint Cup points leader after the weekend race, but he was fined 100 driver points for the infraction, dropping him back to 7th place and Kyle Busch now assumes the points lead.

Other parts of the penalty included a loss of 100 owner points, $100,000 fine and suspension from the next six Sprint Cup races for crew chief Bob Osborne. The team is on probation until December 31st.

What do you think of this penalty? Was it the right one or was it too stiff? Several Nationwide Series cars were cited for the same infractions at Daytona and were only assessed a loss of 25 points. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

NASCAR, Carl Edwards Penalized, Sprint Cup Penalties

The Nextel Cup Series drivers got to tour New York City and light up the town for their Championship Banquet week a couple weeks ago. Last weekend, it was time for the drivers from the Busch Series to take center stage in Orlando, Florida. The top ten drivers were there to accept their awards, along with the Owner’s Championship team and drivers. While many of the faces are familiar, as they participated in the Nextel Cup ceremony as well, some of the Busch Series regulars managed to secure top ten spots in the drivers’ points to take the stage themselves. I’ve obtained some great pictures of the drivers from the banquet looking good all cleaned up. For more pictures, click after the jump.

(All photos by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

The Top Ten Busch Series Drivers were honored in a ceremony this past weekend at the Walt Disney World Speedway. From left to right: Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Greg Biffle, Stephen Leicht, David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann

NASCAR, Busch Series Championship Ceremony, Busch Series Championship Banquet pictures

Do you remember just a couple of years ago when all five Rousch Racing teams made the Chase for the Championship? The organization was lauded for its teamwork and how the company could keep all five superstars happy. Well, it’s now 2007 and it looks like that idealistic view of Roush Fenway Racing is just a distant memory.

Only 2 of the Roush Fenway teams made the Chase this year, and it seems that has led to some tension in the garage, and as of Sunday’s race in Martinsville, on pit road after the race. While SPEED TV’s camera’s rolled, Carl Edwards confronted Matt Kenseth about something that clearly made him extremely irritated. There was no audio at the skirmish, but the television cameras caught Edwards forcibly pushing Kenseth against the pit wall and poking at his chest as he angrily laid into him. At the end of the discussion, Carl Edwards threw a fake punch in Kenseth’s direction, which caused Kenseth to visibly flinch. After Edwards walked away, Kenseth returned to his interview with Bob Dillner. Edwards has since apologized for his behavior, and Matt Kenseth has gone on record saying that Edwards has always been a loose cannon with some serious mood swings. It was mentioned they hadn’t had a conversation in probably six months.

That leads me to the purpose of this post. What in the world has happened to Roush Fenway Racing? Greg Biffle is clearly not happy in his situation, Edwards and Kenseth are apparently feuding, Jamie McMurray is hardly on the radar, and rookie David Ragan has had to come into this and try to fend for himself. There was a time when the term “Roush Racing” would get respect and envy of other teams trying to compete with the powerhouse. Now it’s not much more than a hot mess. Will they be able to get back to the top? What do you think it will take to make things work again? Is there much of a choice other than dumping some of the drivers and rebuilding? Let me know what you think in the comments.

NASCAR, Roush Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth fight

This is just a quick post to update a few things that happened this past weekend in Dover so we can move on to Kansas:

Carl Edwards and Crew Chief Fined

As expected, Carl Edwards and his crew chief were both fined after failing post-race inspection after “The King of Concrete” Carl won the Nextel Cup race at Dover. He was fined 25 driver points, dropping him to 6th in the point standings (but still only 28 points behind leader Jeff Gordon) and his crew chief Bob Osbourne was fined $25,000 and put on probation until December 31st. Rousch Fenway Racing was also fined 25 owner points for the right rear of the car being too low. The organization will appeal the penalty with the argument that a 25 point penalty is too harsh during the Chase for an infraction that actually impairs the performance of the car.

Michael Waltrip’s Gas Man is OK

During a pit stop in the Nextel Cup race on Sunday, a tire from the #44 car hit the #55 gas man and sent him to the hospital. The tire, being changed by Dale Jarrett’s crew during the fourth caution, rolled away from the pit and was hit by David Ragan in the #6 car. It flew across pit road and knocked out gas man Art Harris. Harris was awake and alert at the track, but transported to a nearby hospital immediately. He was released quickly and was able to fly home with the rest of the team. His status for the Kansas race is still unknown at this time.

Kyle Petty vs. Denny Hamlin

And we thought the biggest mess of this matchup was on the track! After Denny Hamlin and Kyle Petty got together on the track during lap 204 of the Nextel Cup race in Dover, the war of words began. Kyle went to visit Denny at his car in the garage as he was sitting in it waiting for it to be repaired. At that point, Kyle slapped Denny across the helmet, which prompted Denny to take off his gloves and climb out of the car. No other physical confrontations occurred, but there are plenty of quotes and big talk from the incident. No penalties were assessed by NASCAR on either party.

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