(Dale Earnhardt) Jr's Busch Crew Cheated, NASCAR Looked Away, I Saw It All

Inside the PitBox.com ^ | 7/7/03 | Rob Faiella

[Wolfstar]

Well, it's about that time of the year for me to write one of those articles that gets me in trouble. I don't try to do this, but sometimes it just happens. If you have read my stuff before you know that I write what I see and I hold nothing back.

Dale Earnhardt Jr's dominance in the Busch series continued this weekend. He led wire to wire and took the win at Daytona.

Anytime Dale Jr wins, the conspiracy theorists come out in full form and make up the craziest stories as to how NASCAR let Dale get away with it and how they favor him. I am always one to say that the rules are the rules and NASCAR can not fix the outcome of a race.

I still believe that.

However, I saw something on Friday that shocked me. Not only did Jr's crew do something so blatantly obvious during inspection, but the NASCAR officials let it go, and to top it off they laughed and joked about it.

[SNIP]

This weekend I was at Daytona with garage/pit credentials courtesy of NASCAR. After this, it'll probably be the last time.

Inspection finally opened up prior to the race and the cars were sent thru a maze in the garage area consisting of about 5 or 6 different areas that the teams pushed the cars thru. One checked body templates, one checked under the cars, one checked the weight, etc. I found it odd that they would move the cars to several different locations to accomplish this, but a NASCAR official escorted each car from station to station to ensure that no one did anything illegal.

When Dale Jr's car was going thru the station that checks the roof height and the valance heights and others, I walked over to that station and snapped off a couple pictures...

[SNIP]

Jr's team pushed the car up on the scales.

The NASCAR officials were having the teams disconnect and reconnect the sway bar at the scales. So, the 8 team, as others, lifted the hood and went to work on the sway bar. Then it happened.

One of Jr's crew members walked over to the passenger side and while the inspectors were looking at the computer to see the numbers and the other one was watching the guy wrenching on the sway bar, the crew member grabbed the hood in the area where it goes over the right front tire and bent it severely upward away from the fender. I sat there for a second thinking, "Why did he do that?"

Then the officials told them to close the hood and move on to the next station, they had passed this portion of inspection. At this point the same crew member closed the hood and now it didn’t fit with the fender anymore. So what did he do? He grabbed the fender and yanked it up at least an inch and a half to meet the newly shaped hood. As he yanked it up, the rest of the fender, above the tire twisted and contorted to this new shape. He closed the hood and it still wasn’t right, so he opened it and adjusted the fender some more until he got it where he wanted it. Then he closed the hood.

This was a major modification to the shape of the fender at a place where the templates are checked very closely.

To make it worse, there were 3 NASCAR inspectors watching this. One Winston Cup inspector and 2 Busch series officials.

They looked at each other and one said to Jr's guys, "That was a major adjustment there guys, I think you need to go back thru the templates."

I thought, "Ok, they are going to do the right thing."

Then they all laughed. The crew guy said, "OH, they never check that anyways." And they laughed some more. The main inspector looked at the obviously tweaked fender and shook his head and said, "I knew we couldn't trust you guys." And they all laughed again.

They pushed the car over to the next station and that was the end of it.

How could these officials let this team make such a blatant adjustment to a critical part of the car and not make them go back thru the templates?

[SNIP]

Now, I am sure all the Jr fans will write in and tell me that I am jealous of Jr or that I need to get a life. But I want you to seriously consider what happened. The rules specifically state that no adjustments can be made to the body of the car after it goes thru the templates or else you must go thru the templates again. A major reshaping of this fender was done and the officials just laughed it off.

I watched several other teams get sent back thru the templates and other stations for far less minor infractions.

Jr fan or not, a rule is rule and it must be enforced evenly. I place the blame here on the NASCAR officials and not on Jr's team. They did what they had to do and they got away with it. The officials did not do their job properly. I personally would like to see an investigation into this and find out why it was allowed. I have the names of all 3 NASCAR officials if anybody wants them. And, I actually had one person say that post race inspection would have found the infraction if there was one. They do not template the car in post race inspection. The cars bump each other during the race.

[SNIP]

If you look at the...photos you can see...the area where the fender was adjusted.

[END EXERPT]

[Laura Earl]

ping

[Wolfstar]

Big grin imagining Bob Graham's truck campaign. Hehehehehehe...

[Wolfstar]

Thanks for making the case. If NASCAR wants to be taken seriously as a sport, then it needs a published rule book, with rules that are applied evenhandedly to every team. On the other hand, if it wants to be like the WWF, then what the heck.

[TomHarkinIsNotFromIowa]

NASCAR - WWF on Wheels

If I was a sponsor I'd be asking more questions.

[DJ88]

....."you'd think Harry Potter was on the pit crew."

ROFLMAO....

A-hem....(DJ catches her breath from laughing)...yes, and maybe Harry sprinkled some kind of magic herbs all over Greg Biffle's car on Saturday night, too.

If I were a NASCAR official, I'd be jumping up and down screaming for Harry Potter's whereabouts this past weekend. ;-)

[Conspiracy Guy]

It would make it easier to hold the low line in the turns or even hold a high line in the turns by increasing the side area of the right fender.

[Wolfstar]

Some aren't even that articulate [wink, chuckle]. I really like Ward Burton. He's a really good guy, but he talks like he's got a box of marbles in his mouth. And I honestly think a translator would be helpful when Sterling Marlin is interviewed, LOL! Oh, and not to leave the non-Southerners out, Tony Stewart says, "but, uh" about every fifth word or so.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Down force would not be affected but side force would by a raised right front. Left turns woul be much easier. Didn't watch but Id bet JR took any line he pleased in the turns.

[CCWoody]

Just a tiny lil' question: If cheating this blatant is going on where Jr. can win a race wire-to-wire with such manipulation, then why don't the other crews seem to notice and howl about it to NASCAR, the media, and anybody else who cares to take the time to listen?

Woody.

[Laura Earl]

IMHO Jeff Gordon's nasally utterance of AWESOME is like nails on a chalkboard!

[Quilla]

LOL! Either that or Hermione conjured up a winimous miraculous spell for the rookie.

[DJ88]

The only problem with this is that there is no picture that shows this happening, only an arrow pointing the the crew member who allegedly made this dastardly change.

I'm not saying it didn't happen, it may very well have happened. But if you were going to take this to a DA, they'd laugh you right out of Police Headquarters based on the pictures posted here and what one person says he saw.

Case dismissed.

[Wolfstar]

Thanks, Flurry. In trying to visualize in my mind what the effect would be, it seemed logical that it would shift downforce more to the left, thus making the car turn left easier and stick better in the turns. A lot of people don't realize that changing tolerances of just a fraction of an inch can make a big difference in how those cars slip through the air and handle.

[DJ88]

"Tony Stewart says, "but, uh" about every fifth word or so."

That's because he's still trying to clear his head from partying the night before with Jr. ;-)

[canyon]

DJ scored a top 10 this weekend. Maybe things will start to turn around for the 88. (I sure hope so.)

[kjam22]

Have you ever seen them scrape the wall... and then a guy takes a hammer to the inside of the wheel well beating it up and out away from the fender? Ever wonder why the NASCAR guys dont' come over and re-template the fender?

I think you need to get a grip and a fresh shot of reality.

[Wolfstar]

DJ88, the author of the article was an eyewitness, and he has the names of the 3 NASCAR officials involved. Obviously this is not a criminal matter. But it is a matter than calls into question the integrity of NASCAR officials and their evenhanded application of the rules.

The Dale Jr. fans who automatically rise to his defense are missing the point. This incident doesn't call Junior's integrity into question. He wasn't even there when this happened and it's likely he didn't even know it occurred. And, as the reporter says, he doesn't even blame the crewman for testing the edge of what he can get away with. The blame goes solely to the NASCAR officials.

Who knows if this impromptu fender-and-hood adjustment made any difference or not? But the attitude of those officials sure gave an incentive to that crew member to do something even more over-the-line in the future. If that happens, what if it's something that compromises the safety of the driver, or of other drivers? Hmmm...

[al_c]

Dale Earnhardt Jr's dominance in the Busch series continued this weekend. He led wire to wire and took the win at Daytona.

Dominance? He's 43rd in points ... 1,885 behind the leader. He's run 3 races and won all three, but there's been 18 races. I guess in that respect he's dominating, but hardly dominating the entire series.

[kjam22]

No picture... and like the guy is going to know exactly how much to yank on the fender so that it gives Junior an advantage... and like the guy is really going to do it in public instead of waiting until no one is around.

This story is just silly.

[OldFriend]

Tsk tsk, your logic just ruined the whiner's day!