NASCAR Cheaters

[UNHWildCats]

I decided to use my 500th post on more then a two line repsonse on a current thread and thus I will jump into the mess that is NASCAR's so called Cheating.

Just last week Jimmie Johnson's crew chief was suspended for 4 races and fined a substantial amount of money for a alteration to the rear window.

Chad Knaus is known for his adventures in sneaking under loopholes to make his car better, thats his job, to put the best product out each week based upon the rules, and while some call most of what he has done cheating the fact of the matter is most have been within the rules NASCAR provides.

The latest incident may have been out of the category Knaus usually goes. It very well may have been blatent breaking of the rules, but NASCAR hasnt been very clear on what was done other then saying the rear window was altered.

Top drivers are always critisized because of there success. Jeff Gordon was called a cheater, Dale Sr. was hated.

Jimmie Johnson's run this past weekend at California should prove, hes a great driver and can win with or without the legal modifications made to his car.

For those who continue to argue about NASCARs love for the Lowe's 48 by barely slapping the hand while penalizing Terry Lebonte and Hall of Fame racing more severely, remember this, Labonte's car ran the race with the illegal carbeurator while Johnson's team had to completely rebuild the car and still qualify it after that and then race the car completely legal to victory lane. The car that won the Daytona 500 was legal totally by NASCAR rules and thus no points earned in the race should have been taken.

The Car of Tomorrow, which will debut next season in a handfull of races, will put all race teams on a more equal playing field, and the Chad Knaus menuevers will become more widespread in NASCAR as teams look for small ways to make there cars a little better then the rest.

[grizbeer]

First let me say that JJ is a great driver, Chad is an awesome crew chief, and the Hendricks organization is first rate. As Hendricks himself said, they are too good to be cheating, they don't need to do that.

2nd there were some inaccuracies in your post.

1) The HOF penalty was found during post-qualifying inspection, not post-race, the same as the 48 problem. The reason NASCAR gave for a points penalty for HOF and not the 48 is that the HOF car had an unapproved part, which NASCAR has consistently penalized with points. the 48 car basically changed the car using approved parts so that the car did not meet the template requirements. It is a penalty, and is cheating, because the adjustment was made after prequalifying inspection to give them an advantage - in other words they went through inspection, changed the configuration of the car knowing that the modification would not have passed initial inspection.
2) the 48 did fail inspection after the win at Las Vegas last year, and was penalized points and money, although the suspension then was overturned on appeal. The 48 passed inspection at Dover, although NASCAR had to let the car sit 30 minutes to pass inspection as the shock bled out. This might not have been a violation of the rules explicitly, but if it had been the 29 or the 16 I have no doubt it would have been points and money as well.

And that is the real problem I and others I have spoken with have - it isn't with JJ or the 48 specifically, but with the way NASCAR seems to give them special treatment. There is no way you can say CK suspension has had a negative effect on the team - winning 1 race, finishing 2nd the next - hell they might be better off without CK:). It isn't so much a dislike or hating of JJ or Hendricks, but that there doesn't seem to be any consistency in how NASCAR levies penalties, and Hendricks gets treated better than any other team with the possible exception of the 8.

Junior also seems to get special treatment as well - Remember the 2003 Alabama 500 when he clearly passed below the yellow line, and no penalty? Just last Sunday there was the phantom debris caution (no debris was ever found) that got Junior back on the lead lap. How many times has Junior or Gordon been able to work their way back from a couple laps down due to timely debris cautions?

Roush fans in particular are sensitive to the special treatment Hendrick team receive. Remember back in 98 at New Hampshire when Gordon had a crap car, made a 2 tire change and managed to run fast lap times for the next 150+ laps, beating Mark Martin who had dominated the race to that point, and who had 4 new tires but suddenly couldn't catch Gordon. Of course NASCAR decided it was just air in the tires, but they changed the rule about taking tires back to the shop after that (kinda like changing the shock rule after JJ won at Dover this year). Of course the most serious was when Mark was docked 46 points for an "illegal" carburetor spacer (never mind that the carburetor was a legal height, and it took 4 1/2 hours after the race to find the "violation"), then later Dale Earnhardt's crew ran onto the track to service his car (an explicit and obvious rule violation), but there was no penalty, and Mark lost the championship to Earnhardt by 26 points.

Then in 1999 Greg Biffle was running away with the Truck series championship, and had just won the Las Vegas Race. After the race it was determined that the manifold was illegal, and Biffle was docked 120 points. It was the same manifold that Biffle had used all season, and had passed inspection in races up to that race including pre-race inspection without modification. NASCAR does not dispute that the manifold passed inspection multiple times, but said they could penalize at their discretion regardless of what they have approved in the past. Biffle lost the championship by 8 points that year.

So if you feel anger towards JJ or Jeff Gordon it isn't personal, it just that NASCAR seems to have special rules for them that don't apply to others.

[Georgia Griz]

This is exactly what I meant when I said that NASCAR was becoming like pro wrestling. NASCAR needs to get consistent, and do it fast if it wants to remain as one of the top spectator sports in America. I would like to see an official rule book that is available to fans and media alike. It's not like many people would be interested in actually purchasing a rule book. But, it would force NASCAR to be more consistent with penalties and punishment, knowing that some fans are watching closely.