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NASCAR Gets the Gibbs Penaties Right

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by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot.

August 20, 2008 1:47 pm CDT 2 Comments

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NASCAR lowered the boom on the Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Series team.  I’m pretty sure that Jack Roush  won’t be the only one to think that the penalties weren’t severe enough.

Citing violations on three separate rules, NASCAR shelled out the following:

Both of the drivers — Joey Logano of the No. 18 and Tony Stewart of the No. 20 — have been penalized with the loss of 150 championship driver points and placed on probation until Dec. 31. Joe Gibbs, owner of both of the cars, has likewise been penalized 150 championship owner points for each of those entries.

Both crew chiefs — Jason Ratcliff of the No. 18 and Dave Rogers of the No. 20 — have been fined $50,000 and indefinitely suspended.

From the No. 18 team, car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson, and crew member Toby Bigelow have been placed on indefinite suspension.

From the No. 20 team, car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek have been indefinitely suspended.

In addition, the entire Nos. 18 and 20 Nationwide Series teams have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

That’s a pretty thorough thrashing, if you ask me.  But some - like Steve  - will question why only fifty grand?  This was, afterall, as blatant a cheat as you can try to pull, wasn’t it?  David Poole thinks so.  Why not the, now normal, $100,000 fine.  Or more!  It’s Toyota for cryin’ out loud!

But NASCAR got it right.  Fifty large is a big fine in a series like the NNS.  Sure Gibbs can absorb it.  So could Roush-Fenway or Richard Childress Racing.  But a fine of 100 grand could be a death sentence for a smaller team.  This was a bad cheat.  But not anything worth the equivalent of capital punishment.

I did find it interesting that those penalized included both drivers, a pair each  of crew chiefs, car chiefs and engine tuners, one owner - and one crew member. 

I wonder who actually placed the magnets?

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: It's Only Cheating if You Get Caught, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, NASCAR Tech, Nationwide Series, Tony Stewart 

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Comments

2 Responses to “NASCAR Gets the Gibbs Penaties Right”

  1. Racedriven on August 20th, 2008 3:31 pm

    Nope, i completely disagree with this penalty, NASCAR dropped the ball here, while I understand where some of this comes from and that this is a Cup Series type penalty, sorry but no dice.

    What should have the penalty been?
    A two week suspension for both the #18 and #20 Nationwide series teams, basically, see you at Richmond…no fines, no docked points and suspend the crew chief for the rest of the season if you want.

  2. User Avatar Marc on August 20th, 2008 10:54 pm

    Go home for two weeks? Pah-lease!

    If it were an infraction that altered the outcome of the race I might… might agree. But it didn’t, and at this point no one except the guilty parties know why it was done.

    It’s just as possible they attempted to show an excessive loss of hp (Trying to reverse the earlier spacer decision) due to the new carb spacer as it is they were hiding excessive hp.

    The only way to be sure is if NASCAR R&D releases the hp data from the confiscated engines after a proper dyno test.

    And I bet that never happens.

    And to Charlie’s point, I agree. Say NASCAR banged Gibs for 200k and later, having set the precedent, a one or two car NNS team were caught in a blatant cheat.

    They get hammered for 200k and fold their tent for a couple weeks or the season as a result.

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