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I have to say, it is very unfortunate that NASCAR choose to enforce rules in such an inconsistent manner… For all their talk about cleaning up the sport, about stopping rule-breaking, it seems it was all nothing but hot air.
NASCAR officials have been throwing penalties at stock-car teams this week like baseball brushback artists.
So Thursday’s changeup – a no-call on Jeff Gordon after he had won a 150-mile qualifier with a car that failed post-race inspection – only added to the confusion in the Daytona International Speedway garage.
“I think everybody is confused,” a top crew chief said, asking not to be named. “Four crew chiefs were suspended and lost points. But Jeff Gordon, for the same ‘accidental,’ gets no penalty – he gets to keep the win and the prize money, doesn’t lose any points, and nobody is suspended.
“They’re not enforcing the rules the same for everybody. You just have to decide what is worth the risk? And right now it looks to me like it’s too big a gamble.”
Gordon, whose only penalty was being forced to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday’s Daytona 500, said he was very disappointed at the turn of events.
“We pride ourselves on making sure we’re within the rules,” Gordon said. “It just crushed me when I found out that we were going to be right in the middle of it all (the cheating scandals).
“We’re taking full responsibility. But it was a part failure. A bolt backed off. Because the car was low in inspection, I’m totally in agreement and understand what NASCAR did. I feel the crime fits the punishment, because there was no unfair advantage.
“Obviously this is a dark cloud. But we did win the race, and I feel we won it fair and square.”
That story didn’t sell in much of the garage, however. And teams said it was yet another mixed message from NASCAR. The big message NASCAR has delivered so far, according to some teams, is that it will continue to deal justice arbitrarily.
First, NASCAR has made a big deal out of all the teams that have been busted this week. But just a day after letting owner-driver Michael Waltrip off without a team suspension for using an illegal fuel additive in qualifying, NASCAR then let Gordon off scot-free, despite failing post-race height requirements at the rear quarter-panels. Having a lower-than-legal rear end is a considerable speed-booster, rivals said.
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