Kyle Petty gives the owner’s view of inovating in NASCAR

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

June 24, 2007 10:48 am EDT No Comments

Kyle Petty is rapidly becoming my favorite NASCAR TV commentator.

On Saturday’s post NASCAR practice coverage one of the many subjects discussed was, of course, the rules violations found on the cars of Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.

Kyle made point that Chad Knauss was being aggressive and pushing the envelope, trying to get an edge and that that was GOOD. You want your crew chief to do just that. The fact that NASCAR decided that what was done pushed said envelope too far, is part of the learning curve.

Later on the NASCAR Performance show, ON PIT ROW stars (I know but I like the sound of it) Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond took up the defense of crew chiefs everywhere, pleading the case for understanding and lenience in the absence of data on the CoTs. They interviewed Chad Knauss, who naturally was surprised and confused by NASCAR’s move. The show could have been paid for by the Benevolent Brotherhood of Crew Chiefs.

The difference between Petty’s points and those of the veteran crew commanders was that Kyle acknowledged that it appeared that the Hendrick Motorsports guys had pursued their innovations with a clear intent to push the rule book. This, he said, differed from the circumstances, at Darlington, that got Tony Eury Jr. suspended as that violation appeared to be unintentional.

The intent involved in the latest CoT rules test could net Hendrick Motorsports a heavier penalty.

So says Kyle the Good.

Filed under: Hendrick Motorsports, It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, NASCAR & the Media, The Pettys

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Comments

Got something to say?

Did you know you can log in with your Thunder Lounge account, and have your personal avatar and site link available when you comment at On Pit Row?

Don't have an account yet? Sign-up for free.