LIVE THREAD: Nascar Nextel Cup - DAYTONA 500 - Sunday 02-19-06 [Let's Go Racing]

Nascar ^ | 02-17-06 | WCG

[WestCoastGal]

That is absolutely ridiculous.

Tony gets nothing, Texas Terry loses points and the biggest cheater who altered the car after tech insp gets no point deduction. Brainless and Hendrick must have something going on.

Whew doggies this is not gonna go over big with the fans!!

[LasVegasMac]

Let me count the 8's..........

http://racing.ups.com/racing/photo_gallery/index.html

First picture under Checker Auto Parts 500.

Very cool pic. My boy loves it. He asked me, "why are they such good friends?"

Long story, son - but it started with Dale Sr.

http://racing.ups.com/racing/video_gallery/index.html

....the two truck video's.

Too funny.

"How much does that thing weigh?"

About 4 tons.

19 days to my butt being in the seat at the LVMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SouthTexas]

Now, on the bright side, I got the see the 17 in Corpus today!

Can anyone tell me why they put sticker tars on a show car?

[WestCoastGal]

It was reported on XM today that HOF lost their 25 points because Darby could actually get his hands on the part that was illegal AND he could not on the 48??????????????????

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for the pics LVM. I think DJ is sort of a surrogate Dad for Jr. Plus he really admires the veterans more than any of the other drivers do IMO.

[LasVegasMac]

Your very welcome.

To be the proverbial 'fly on the wall', eh?

We will be seeing these guys up close and personal, very soon.

The LVMS has a rule that no one under the age of 18 is allowed into the pit / garage area......no pit pass for the boy.

Next best thing.....we will be on the track, front and center, for driver introductions.

My boy is so excited about it he can hardly talk....."I just want to get close to Jr!"

Heros.

Real live ones.

For Dad, too!

[WestCoastGal]

It was Pemberton's quote........


"If we have a part or piece that's illegal that we can lay our hands on, that's when we take points," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition. "In the case of the 48, the parts were legal, they had been manipulated to have an illegal effect."

So according to this, if I was a Crew Chief at the last race
of the season and I took a legal piece of equipment, like say
a "legal" piece on the engine, and say I went and "manipulated"
it for the race and then I won the race, took the lead in the
points standings and won the championship, that I wouldn't lose
1 point because I manipulated" a "legal" part?

Wow!

NASCAR has opened up a pandora's box.




Link: http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/13927351.htm

[WestCoastGal]

OK the boss gets to go too.........

From JR Motorsports
And speaking of California. Mark, Dale Jr. and Jeff Hammond will be flying with the Blue Angels in El Centro, Ca. on Monday. I am trying to get a pool up to see which one will puke first. My money is on Hammond.

[WestCoastGal]

That sounds like so much fun.

Jr's a good role model for the boy.

He may use bad language now and then, or more {{lol}} but he is an honest good ol southern boy with manners, very well spoken and most importantly, a kind hearted soul.

[Ben Hecks]

Superstar Stewart's attitude problem was made worse when he finished eigth in the IROC race which Kenseth won. Dave Despain showed clips of several of Stewart's temper tantrums on SpeedTV last night and left the impression that everyone fully expected NASCAR to take disciplinary action. NASCAR is losing credibility fast - there's a lot of other things I can do on Sunday afternoon.

[flutters]

NASCAR Penalties Lack Credibility, Honesty

http://speedtv.com/commentary/22206/

Written by: Tom Jensen
Harrisburg, N.C. – 2/21/2006

After catching crew chief Chad Knaus breaking the rules at Daytona and adding to his already-lengthy rap sheet, NASCAR talked tough.

After watching drivers slam-draft each other at 190 miles per hour all week at Daytona, NASCAR talked tougher.

But when it comes to Knaus, a seven-time repeat offender who has made a mockery of the Nextel Cup rule book, let’s just say NASCAR threw the pamphlet at him.

Which is more than they did to Tony Stewart for putting Matt Kenseth hard into the wall at top speed in the Daytona 500.

Meanwhile, the sanctioning body hammered a first-year start-up team for an innocent mistake.

All of which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that in the wacky world of NASCAR decision-making — and pardon this dreadful mixed metaphor — not only does the emperor have no clothes, he apparently has no onions, either.

Faced with an opportunity to present the sport as being governed fairly and with no favoritism, NASCAR instead turned a blind eye to two flagrant fouls.

The first was the one Knaus made with Jimmie Johnson’s car, and the second one occurred when Stewart heaved a 3,400-pound car into Kenseth’s at full speed during the Daytona 500.

In the clutch, NASCAR’s leadership didn’t just look like they choked. Instead they looked like they threw the game altogether.

The result? They fueled the assumption that every flat-earther and conspiracy nut from Key West to West Kauai believes beyond a shadow of a doubt: NASCAR plays favorites.

If you’re a big name, you can do just about anything short of stealing money out of Bill France’s trust fund and fear no reprisal or consequence.

Even as I write this, Internet message boards are burning up from folks wondering if NASCAR’s rules are being administered and enforced by some combination of Vince McMahon, Stevie Wonder and former Enron execs.

Let’s review: Chad Knaus was busted at Daytona for a movable rear-window designed to redirect airflow.

It was at least the seventh time in his career he’s been busted and it was a flagrant foul to say the least.

Here’s what NASCAR had to say about it last week:

“We're aware of Chad's past penalties,” said Nextel Cup Director John Darby. “Penalties are such that they need to be severe enough to deter either the individual that received the penalty, and more importantly the rest of the garage participants, to put them in a mindset that the penalty is severe enough that you don't want to gamble with. We will continue to ratchet up the penalties until we get that message across.”

Here’s what NASCAR did: Suspend Knaus for three races.

That’s it.

No driver-points fine, as is customary in such offenses.

No owner points or monetary fine, as is also customary.

The team got all three fines in Daytona four years ago when caught with an illegal rear suspension cooked up by Knaus.

This time, no fines of any kind.

Ratchet up the penalties? Har, har, har.

Knaus still gets to go the Hendrick shop every day, he just can’t go to the track.

Knaus’ “suspension” is trackside only, which means it’s really nine days — three days at each of three tracks.

Here’s what NASCAR said of the rough driving and bump drafting at Daytona: “What we're doing today is getting into that gray area that we don't get into, and you don't want us to get into,” NASCAR President Mike Helton told the drivers.

“But we've reached a point where we need to. So this is it. This is the warning. The best way to police this is for you to do it yourselves.”

Here’s what NASCAR did to its champion for a deliberate, retaliatory and openly admitted high-speed ramming of Kenseth’s car, which cost him a shot at winning the race and nearly caused a huge pile-up: Nada, zippo, zilch, bupkes.

Oops, that’s not quite correct. Stewart got sent to the end of the longest line on a restart. He didn't even lose a lap, as the penalty was enforced under yellow.

Pretty lightweight considering it was an obvious assault, and a 3,400-pound, 190-mile-per-hour car has to be considered a deadly weapon.

Here’s what NASCAR said when the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry driven by Terry Labonte went through inspection with a carburetor that was legal at 32 of 36 races and was supplied to the team by an outside engine supplier: “As far as the intent to circumvent the rules, we don't believe that was there,” said Darby. “That one is pretty cut and dried.”

Here’s what NASCAR did: a $25,000 fine for crew chief Philippe Lopez; a fine of 25 driver points for Terry Labonte and a fine of 25 owner points for the team, the latter of which could be devastating to the team’s hopes of staying in the top 35 in owners’ points later in the season and thus having a guaranteed spot in the races.

Was what happened today fair?

Make your own mind up on this one. My take is that it’s so clear even a crackhead knows the correct answer.

But make no mistake about it: Chad Knaus and Tony Stewart did what most guys in the garage would do if they knew they could get away with little or no penalty.

If no threat of punishment exists, guys have no incentive to behave.

These two wrongs didn’t make a right.

But if NASCAR only talks the talk and doesn’t walk the walk, no one’s going to listen to them anyway.

Not in the garage.

And sooner or later, not in the grandstands, either.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SpeedTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

[flutters]

I'm hoping what comes around goes around (also ready to make some little voodoo cars).

unfrigginbelivable!!

[WestCoastGal]

The Lady in Black: Paybacks, Penalties and Piggyback Rides

Yay-Yay Jeley, the new Interstate Batteries charger, and Captain Nemo in his Army of One were involved, as was the Car with the Flames. But the wreck you just knew would make all of the highlight reels was between Cow Patty and Prince Edwards of Roush. Those two came together right where the apron meets the track banking and the angle propelled the Office Depot Ford onto the left front fender of the Wells Fargo Dodge, and I do mean ONTO it. The two cars slid for the better part of a straightaway, piggyback fashion. That must have been some view for Cow Patty!

While the janitors were busy cleaning up the mess made by the wreck as a whole, the boys took advantage of the third yellow rag to come to the bar and grab a cold Coors Light. In fact, Flameboy made a second trip to the bar, either for more fender work or a second beer. The One LAP UP that time went to Mayfail.

On lap 85, it was back to the fray, this time led by Mutt Kenseth. Behind him were Havoc, Bud Stud, Mini-me, Busch League and Candy Man. On the very next lap, it was Bud Stud back to the lead while Havoc went high to give room to Captain Nemo’s injured car. Nice move, but it cost him a lot of track position. He might be tempted not to do that again.

At lap 91, the yellow flew again, this time for some parts and pieces the janitors had missed from the last wreck. Even though they’d barely left it, every soldier marched right back to the bar for a cold one, though some took only two Goodyears with their beer, shaking up the running order on the battlefield. When they restarted on lap 96, it was Bud Stud leading Mini-me, Mutt, Busch League, Munchkin and Stewpot.

After that, we saw some more two and three-wide racing, together with a little paint trading. It was about then that we began to see Ken Shredder, the new hope of the Wood Brothers. He and Little Debbie were mixing it up with the guys at the front of the battle. At lap 104, we watched Munchkin come up the outside like the proverbial bat out of Hades to take the lead, courtesy of a bit of bump-draft help from Stewpot. (Now, who was it that was just saying bump drafting was going to kill someone?)

Three laps later, we’d see Stewpot again, this time coming down the track to sideswipe Mutt Kenseth into the infield grass, where he performed an excellent bobsled imitation before sweeping back up the track to the wall. No one hit the sliding car, but of course, it brought out yellow rag number five on the day and another great excuse for a Bud break. It seems that the boys from the Cellblock took a dim view of Stewpot’s actions and told him he could sit at the bar until everyone else was through with their beer, then go back to battle riding shotgun.

Now, mothers with small children and football fans are quite familiar with the fact that it’s usually the second aggressor that gets..............>>MORE

LINK

I'm not crazy at all about Kenseth's nickname, she needs a new one IMO.

[WestCoastGal]

We can also take a look at Todd Berrier's infraction last year at LVMS which cost Harvick points.

"Todd Berrier, crew chief for the No. 29 Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick, was suspended for four races and fined $25,000. Those penalties resulted from the No. 29 having an unapproved fuel filler and unapproved fuel cell vent. In addition to Berrier's penalties, Harvick has been penalized 25 driver championship points, dropping him from eighth to 10th in the driver standings, while car owner Richard Childress loses 25 car owner championship points."

[commish]

ONce again NASCAR is showing how it gets on hands and knees and Monica's for Hendrick Motorsports.

The blatant DOUBLE STANDARD for teams such as HOF racing, Richard Childress Racing, Roush racing Versus the kid gloves with which Hendrick Racing is treated is sickening.

I am truly about done with NASCAR, it is becoming friggin WWE on wheels. What a F*cking joke.

[KylaStarr]

Hey lady, thanks for the ping!!

Gee, wonder if they'll fly this far west? I'll have to be sure to keep looking up : )

heheheee... I think you put your money on the right one to puke! LOL!!

[I want to know]

I think the "manipulation" of legal parts has been happening more often than what we know. The crew chiefs are pushing the envelope to get better advantage over the other teams and Nascar is getting better at hunting out violations and penalizing accordingly.

From what I have read there is a difference in the Nascar rule book between manipulation of legal parts vs. illegal parts used to gain advantage. (No, I haven't read them, I'm only taking some columnists at their word!)

As pointed out in the same article"That sounds like the same thing Knaus did, but Pemberton said that in Berrier's case there were actual parts machined to help with the violation that had no other purpose. Last fall at Talladega, when Harvick's car had its qualifying lap disallowed because areas in the rear end were illegally opened to let air flow through, Berrier got a two-week suspension and a fine. But since there were no illegal parts, no points were taken.

The rules could be changed to treat both instances the same, legal vs. illegal, but I wonder if that's what the teams would want?

[I want to know]

Oh by the way, great race for your guy Sunday. I was really happy to see him do well.

[SouthTexas]

As pointed out in the same article"That sounds like the same thing Knaus did, but Pemberton said that in Berrier's case there were actual parts machined to help with the violation that had no other purpose. Last fall at Talladega, when Harvick's car had its qualifying lap disallowed because areas in the rear end were illegally opened to let air flow through, Berrier got a two-week suspension and a fine. But since there were no illegal parts, no points were taken.

This does point to some consistency, even though many will dismiss or refuse to admit it.

Still don't understand Stewart's total reprieve. Other than steveegg, everyone seems to be ignoring this, while happily bashing the perceived Hendrix pardon. This was an abuse of position, car, and competitor, on track and at speed.
I better stop now.

[WestCoastGal]

"Oh by the way, great race for your guy Sunday. I was really happy to see him do well."

Thanks, all he needed was just a tiny push there in the outside line for the win but couldn't get any help. He explained to his fans today in his journal that he was not going to stay there in line for fifth, he wanted to get the win for us so he gave it his best shot and wound up 8th. I think he's the only one who apologizes or explains to his fans what his intentions were on the track. Most of the other drivers only apologize to their sponsor. :-}