NASCAR Stars Gordon, Johnson Penalized
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were docked 100 points each Tuesday, and their crew chiefs were both fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for violations at Infineon Raceway.
The two Hendrick Motorsports cars failed an initial inspection Friday in Sonoma, Calif., when NASCAR officials found unapproved modifications to the fenders on their Chevrolets. NASCAR refused to let either driver on the track the entire day, and neither was allowed to qualify.
But the fenders were fixed, the cars passed inspection Saturday and were allowed to race Sunday. Gordon, the four-time series champion, finished seventh while defending Nextel Cup champion Johnson was 17th.
Gordon remains the Nextel Cup points leader after the deduction, but his margin was cut to 171 points over Denny Hamlin. Johnson dropped from third to fifth.
But both will have to race through the summer without their crew chiefs. Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte are not eligible to return to the track until Aug. 15. The crew chiefs also were placed on probation through the end of the year.
There was no immediate word from Hendrick Motorsports on if it plans to appeal the penalties. Gordon and Johnson are the most dominant drivers in NASCAR this season they’ve won four races each and Hendrick has 10 victories this year.
Car owner Rick Hendrick traveled to California after the failed inspection, and argued his crew chiefs were operating in a ”gray area” of the NASCAR rule book as it pertains to the new Car of Tomorrow.
”I don’t necessarily say they bent the rules I think they thought they were working inside an area in which they could,” Hendrick said. ”It’s going to be tough, as we go forward, on what’s intentional and what’s accidental and how they handle it, so you’re definitely going to have to show up with these things measured up.”
But NASCAR has insisted this season that there no longer are any questionable parts of the rule book, particularly when it comes to the COT. Teams were warned in March that any infractions dealing with the car were subjected to a loss of 100 points, a $100,000 fine and a six-race suspension.
NASCAR adhered to those guidelines last month when it penalized Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., for modifications found on the wing of their COT at Darlington Raceway.
Now the Hendrick teams have been hit with the same penalties, although many believed Knaus a repeat offender should have received a stiffer punishment.
This is at least the 15th time Knaus has been penalized for something during his crew chief career, and this was his fourth suspension since 2001. He sat out four races last season when NASCAR found illegal modifications following Johnson’s qualifying run for the Daytona 500.
Johnson went on to win the 500, and again at Las Vegas, without Knaus. The two reunited in March and went on to win their first championship.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Unfortunately the penalty will not stop the cheating or the attempts anyway….the money is insignifigant..the 100 points to the 48 and the 24 are also…that kind of penalty would only affect teams lower in the standing which is why the 5 and 25 from Hendrick never did the same modification.. they couldn’t afford to even though they knew and had seen the fenders at VIR during testing…the top teams will continue to push the envelope like this only has an affect on the thinking of the lower tier teams…the only way it will stop is to send them home..missing a race will get even Chad Knaus’s attention…
June 27th, 2007 at 6:59 am
No professional sport is immune from cheating or “skirting the rules,” so why should NASCAR act differently? These drivers are indeed athletes, and any competitive edge will certainly benefit drivers, owners, etc. But, these benefits must be within established rules, just as we in our own lives must follow societal laws. Sure, mods will be made and go unnoticed (as they already do), such as in street cars. Removing a properly functioning catalytic converter, for example, is illegal in my state, but drivers do this to install the ever popular H-pipe. Get caught, pay the price. Won’t even bring up DWIs. Follow the rules and life is far less difficult and embarrasing. It is said that “rules are made to be broken.” They were broken over the years, and this is why we have the COT, even if it is unpopular. Quit cheating and race, damnit. A win through bypassing rules is no honorable win at all — it only serves to boost egos of those who wish to be seen as heroes and gain exposure through the media unscrupulously. A true heroe does what any other positively thinking individual would do — they just do it longer and think quickly in a casculative way of the risks they are taking. They just want to do the right thing. It is the same for any TRUE athlete.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am
“caculative,” sorry. See above.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Sorry, it’s early! “Calculative!”
June 27th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I cannot believe that our society and sports have gone to this measure to make sure that everyone is a clone and the exact cookie cutter replica of each other…
This car of tomorrow is CRAP….
what ever happened to racing?? what happened to the best car wins?? The best driver wins??
Whya does everything have to be the same as everything else?? the only way to tell the drivers apart are their numbers, and soon nascar will probably do away with those…
what the hell is happening to people???
June 27th, 2007 at 9:47 am
I am just now starting to watch Nascar races and so I have a 2 questions.. If the car owners, drivers, crew chiefs KNOW that each car is inspected for every race then WHY do the try to modify the race car with unapproved modifications knowing that they will be fined, banned etc when they are caught? also maybe then need to have bigger fines and high points deductions or maybe even drop them to the bottom of the point standings. I mean I don’t know really what is the appropriate punishment?
June 27th, 2007 at 10:31 am
That’s think about this for a second…..inspection……wouldn’t an inspection be to see if a team has the car up to snuff. If they don’t shouldn’t that be their chance for them to correct the problem. Then they have another inspection, which if they don’t pass, then a penalty be assessed.
Here is Webster’s definition - checking or testing of an individual against established standards.
I don’t read anything about penalizing.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I think that they were penalized way over board…It is a sport…Why can’t we just enjoy it???? Has the commissioner nothing else to do but find trouble all the time with all the teams? Maybe it just that they was an bonus for their self. I think that Rick Hendrick should fight it to the end,,,
It is a sport lets have fun with it no matter what team it is….