No. 11 Team Penalized For Rules Infraction At Indianapolis

via press release

The No. 11 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been penalized for a rules infraction discovered in post-race inspection July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This infraction is a P5 level penalty which is outlined in Section 12-4.5 A (9) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book:

Approved parts that fail or are improperly installed to fail in their intended use of great importance (e.g.; rear wheel well panels that fail and allow air evacuation in the trunk area; oil box cover that fails and allows air evacuation in the driver compartment; shifter boot cover that fails and allows air evacuation through the floor pan).

This infraction violates Sections:

12-1 - Actions detrimental to stock car racing;

20-2.1 – Car body must be acceptable to NASCAR officials and meet the following requirements:

·         K – Any device or ductwork that permits air to pass from one area of the interior of the car to another, or to the outside of the car, will not be permitted. This includes, but is not limited to, the inside of the car to the trunk area, or the floors, firewalls, crush panels and wheel wells passing air into or out of the car;

·         L – All seams of the interior sheet metal and all interior sheet metal to exterior sheet metal contact point must be sealed and caulked. This includes, but is not limited to, floors, firewalls, wheel wells, package trays, crush panels and any removable covers;

20-3.4 - All references to the inspection surface in sub-section 20-3.4 have been determined with the front lower edge of both main frame rails set at six inches and the rear lower edge of both main frame rails set at eight inches. For driver protection, all firewalls, floors, tunnels, and access panels must be installed and completely secured in place when the car is in competition;

20-3.4.5 - A rear firewall, including any removable panels or access doors, constructed using magnetic sheet steel a minimum of 22 gage (0.031 inch thick), must be located between the trunk area and the driver’s compartment and must be welded in place. Block-off plates/covers used in rear firewalls in place of blowers, oil coolers, etc., must be constructed of 22 gage (0.031 inch thick) magnetic sheet steel. Block-off plates/covers must be installed with positive fasteners and sealed to prevent air leakage. Carbon fiber or aluminum block-off plates/covers will not be permitted.

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Per Section 12-4.5 B, the minimum P5 penalty includes:

Yes, Darian Grubb Did Have Something To Hide After Denny Hamlin Won the Sylvania 300

Yesterday Denny Hamlin won the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire NASCAR.  It was impressive to say the least that earlier in the week Hamlin declared that they will win the race, and sure enough, he charged to the front of the pack long before the race was half over (Lap 93 to be exact.), and never looked back.

Earlier in the week, Hamlin boasted he would win New Hampshire and later sort of retracted it.  People fizzled about his retraction, but I think he was worried about the little things like lug nuts, tiny engine parts that could fail, etc.. And athletes can be a superstitious lot.

But Denny won, under the leadership of Tony Stewart's ex crew chief, Darian Grubb.  Joe Gibbs Racing Darian Grubb may or may not have anything to prove.

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Grubb helped chaperon Tony Stewart into his NASCAR Championship last year, but that was a swan song of an event, as Grubb was slated to leave the shop at the end of the year.  He was given his walking papers going into the 2011 Chase for the Cup.  But things, from the outside looking in, seemed like he was dumped after all was said and done.  And there are no specific clues as to who dumped him from Stewart-Haas Racing.

So some folks think he has something to prove, and by all rights, I think it would be a popular win with the fans if he did.  Not to mention being a crew chief to be the first to lead two different drivers to a championship, in consecutive years.

But...

After Denny Hamlin won, the TV media rushed to chat up Darian about the win and Darian saw the camera and scrambled to cover up his computer screen.  Folks instantly took to this moment on Twitter, wondering what was up and if he had something to hide?

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Duh.  Of course Darian has something to hide!

In this day and age of HD TV, computer screens have a lot to give up if the TV camera catches the screen.

As Steve Letarte told The Morning Drive guys on SiriusXM this morning, crew chiefs have a lot to hide, from their own setups to other teammates setups.  He also made note that other crew chiefs took careful note of this situation.

Letarte noted that the crews do accept the media into their work spaces, but need a bit of a heads up so that they can protect the sensitive info of the team.

What he didn't do was use a specific term that came to mind for me.  That's "company proprietary."  The information up there on their computers is sensitive to an organization and they have every right to hide their trade secrets.  Their edge, as you might see it.  And everyone needs that edge, no matter how slight.

And Darian had a lot of edge to hide last weekend, considering how dominant Hamlin was.

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So it's nothing super secret, just organization proprietary.  That edge that helped them dump on the other 42 teams at New Hampshire, that Darian Grubb was hiding.  (It wasn't like he had a yellow stickie on the screen to remind him to get rid of the jet fuel canister under his seat by race's end, or anything like that!)

Now, if he led Denny Hamlin to that championship, yea, that would be sweet for Grubb fans to experience.  Don't you think?  Is Denny about to do a repeat of what Tony Stewart did last year while led by Grubb?

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