Hendrick Team Points and Penalties Overturned By Appellate; A Few More Points

Today we saw NASCAR's Appellate court in action... when Rick Hendrick and NASCAR faced off the last time in regards to the car body rules infraction that was incurred at Daytona.

On the line were a huge collective of points for both driver and owner, a lengthy "vacation" from the track for a few, and, for you or I, a hefty fine.

But after hearing both sides of the story, with Rick Hendrick showing 20 different photos and almost 20 pages of documentation and affidavits as to the legality of the car, he seemed to have made a point.  He had also added to his testimony how the car had sat in the R&D center in January and Hendrick had written proof that the car wasn't altered after being in the center.

With that all said and done, the man making the final judgement surprised the entire NASCAR fan community when he overturned the ruling, giving the driver and owner points back to the team, BUT, leaving the $100k fine in place.

By Jimmie Johnson getting his points back, he's now 11th in the driver standings, 36 points out of first.

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But fans are going crazy because the want to know how one can drop the points penalties and suspensions, yet keep the fine in place?  When NASCAR was asked about the fine remaining, they jumped on that one, saying it proves that the car wasnt right.

BTW:  John Middlebrook has heard 4 appeals now and has reduced portions of all of them.  And if I heard right on SiriusXM this morning, Middlebrook and Hendrick go way back because he used to work for GM.

That's probably not related, but it's out there.

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Now the questions of the day are how can NASCAR enforce car inspections if they only going to get turned over?  To be honest, I think they still can.  This was an eyeball call where no template sits.  With that said, I'm guessing there might be fewer judgement calls and more templates on the horizon!

But as to his reasoning, we'll never know what was going on in Middlebrook's mind.  The press was not given access to the man.

Albeit, that's all she wrote.  Jimmie is back in the hunt, Chad is still on the box and it's business back to normal.

Asked how he feels this will impact his image, Chad says it's not about image, it's about winning.  And that's what makes these two, Knaus and Johnson, a force to be reckoned with.  Chad Knaus does what he can to win in this day and age of such close parity.  And he does it often enough that he finds himself in hot water every few years.  Jimmy is the man who can drive the cars Chad squeaks out onto the track.

I'm betting they'll be playing it safe for a little while now.  At least though Fontana.  That's for sure.

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Bad News for Jimmie?

Though you have to wonder with two of Jimmie Johnson's championships having come in seasons where Chad had to sit out a few weeks each.

I thought this would fire them up when Chad was gone.  But now that Chad is not gone...  just saying!

Sources, All Twitter, All the Time
http://twitter.com/:
nateryan
jim_utter
jeff_gluck
dustinlong
bobpockrass
MartySmithESPN

The No. 48 Penalties Lifted, Points Returned & Fine Stays in Place Though

I'm surprised by this final verdict because I think like all of us, we were expecting to see Chad Knaus take a quick 6-week vacation.  Be it as it may, NASCAR's Chief Appellate Officer granted the No. 48 teams points back, in both driver and owners points and pulled the suspension that was looming over Knaus's head.  But...  the fine remains in place.

Most interesting.  Here's the press release that just came out, the very same time that the news was announced at the R&D center:

On March 20, 2012, the Chief Appellate Officer heard and considered the appeal of the penalties resulting from the #48 Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.  This stemmed from an opening day inspection for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2012.

The penalties concern Section 12-1 of the NASCAR Rule Book "Actions detrimental to stock car racing;" Section 12-4(J): "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the Race Equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR Rule Book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the Event;" and Section 20-2.1(E): "If in the judgment of NASCAR Officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance, will not be permitted: Unapproved car body modifications."

The results of the appeal hearing were as follows:

-          Rescinding the loss of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Car Owner points (for Jeff Gordon).

-          Rescinding the loss of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Driver points (for Jimmie Johnson).

-          Rescinding the six (6) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Events suspension for the Crew Chief (Chad Knaus) and Car Chief (Ron Malec), however both will remain on NASCAR probation until May 9, 2012.

-          $100,000 fine remains in place for the Crew Chief (Chad Knaus).

John Middlebrook – Chief Appellate Officer

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Chad Knaus Could Be Looking At Another Six-Week Sabatical!

The appeals board heard the appeals of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 team on their Daytona infraction.  And despite the team's urging of the matter and trying to get the penalties rescinded, it was to no avail.  Of course the team will be appealing the appeal hearing, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to matter.  I think if this team and particular crew chief didn't have a history of pushing the boundaries, maybe, just slightly maybe, it would be different.  Don't know though.

Below is the press release on the NASCAR Appeals Panel Statement:

NATIONAL STOCK CAR RACING APPEALS PANEL STATEMENT

On March 13, 2012, the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel heard and considered the appeal of the #48 Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

The penalties concern Section 12-1 of the NASCAR Rule Book "Actions detrimental to stock car racing;" Section 12-4(J): "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the Race Equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR Rule Book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the Event;" and Section 20-2.1(E): "If in the judgment of NASCAR Officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance, will not be permitted: Unapproved car body modifications." 

This stemmed from an opening day inspection for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2012.

The original penalties assessed prior to the deferral were:

-          Car Owner (Jeffrey M. Gordon) – Loss of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Car Owner points;

-     Car Driver (Jimmie K. Johnson) – Loss of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Driver points;

-          Crew Chief (Chad A. Knaus) - $100,000.00 fine.  Suspended from the next six (6) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Events.  Suspended from NASCAR until April 18, 2012.  Placed on NASCAR probation until May 9, 2012. 

-          Car Chief (Ron P. Malec) - Suspended from the next six (6) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Events.  Suspended from NASCAR until April 18, 2012.  Placed on NASCAR probation until May 9, 2012. 

Upon hearing the testimony, carefully reviewing the facts and historically comparative penalties, the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel was to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR. 

The Appellants have the right under Section 15 of the Rule Book to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer. 

 

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NASCAR At The New Phoenix: Brad's Phone, Johnson's Appeal

NASCAR is going into this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, we have past champions in arrears of the driver points, that same team appealing stiff penalties, and other goodies like Twitter dominating the media campaign this weekend.

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Last weekend during the Juan Pablo Montoya camp fire on the track, Brad Keselowski made headlines with his tweeted pic from within his car.

I thought it was a pretty neat thing with NASCAR getting the media attention from Brad's deed.  And I left it at that.  The media on the other hand, and others did not.

An issue came up that I had not thought about, and that was if Brad could have used his smartphone to possibly record data from the EFI system in his car.  And that's a hot subject, being how NASCAR is keeping a tight lid on the premise of tampering with the EFI systems they're using this year.

Brad had to answer as to why he had his phone in his car, and he said that having his phone in his car lets him contact family when he gets into a wreck.  He once had a frustrating experience where it took him a long time to get in touch with his family after a wreck in Fontana.

NASCAR Deals Out Penalties to Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Team

6-week Suspensions!  After failing a template inspection during opening day for the Daytona 500, (Feb. 17, 2012), NASCAR has distributed penalties in regards to the infraction.

The Infraction:

The No. 48 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted – unapproved car body modifications).

Bruce's note: This involved a part of the car body back by the C-Post, which did not conform to template measurements.
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The Penalties

Suspensions

Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec have been suspended from the next six (6) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events, suspended from NASCAR until April 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until May 9. Additionally, Knaus has been fined $100,000.

Points Loss

Driver Jimmie Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and 25 owner points, respectively.

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Jimmie Johnson came out of Daytona with 2 points in the driver standings... as did the car owner!  Hence, a 25-point penalty puts the tally at -23 points!  Jimmie definitely has a hole to climb out of, but he's done it before.  In fact, it seems his team performs best when they are forced to work hard at it.

The penalties come as no surprise but as far as I'm concerned, bodes well for Jimmie Johnson!

The years that he's had to do without Chad Knaus or had a bad time in the Daytona 500 have been very good years for the No. 48 Lowes team.

So look out guys!
-Bruce

More Penalties for Hendrick

If NASCAR can determine that the Hendrick crew chiefs that were suspended a week previous, were actually at the track, (New Hampshire) for the race, running things from their motor coaches, they may look at taking more action in regards to such a bone head move.

We'll see.... ocregister.com