Two penalties and the STRs
The big news this week: Carl Edwards gave up 100 points to Robby Gordon. Or that's how it ended up.
Edwards got nailed for a loose oil pan lid, which helped explain why his car ran on a rail Sunday. Gordon got a reprieve from a Small Team death sentence when the Stock Car Racing Commission ruled that his bad bumper cover was no big deal.
I'm still baffled by the Gordon decision. NASCAR has made it crystal-freakin'-clear that Thou Shalt Not Mess With The Outside of the Car. Remember Junior and the COT wing brackets last year? Remember when the 24 and 48 were screwing around last year with their front fenders? NASCAR went crazy with the fines, suspensions and points. NASCAR was consistent with the Robby Gordon situation. But the stock car commission's decision to give him back his driver points smacks of its version of The Call. Robby's the only single-car owner-driver team in Cup right now, and there's probably some strong sentiment to make sure he doesn't go under like all of the other Small Teams. (See McClure, Morgan). But can you imagine the outcry if a Hendrick or Roush team got this same penalty overturned? The precedent here is terrible, and it gives fans one more reason to distrust how this sport is run.
Now for the Edwards deal.
Because the crew chiefs can't tinker with the outside of the body, they're looking for things inside the body. NASCAR figured out the holes-in-the-wheel-wells trick at Daytona last year. They nailed a bunch of Buschnwide cars at Daytona this year for the loose oil pan lid thing. (Evidentally Cousin Carl's crew chief doesn't pay much attention to the second-tier series even though his driver won it by a million points last year.) If you can pick up a tenth or two by drilling a quarter-inch hole in the rear wheel well and covering it with tape, think about how much downforce you can get if the oil pan lid is acting as an internal wing. It's a genius piece of cheating — except for the getting caught part. That's pretty dumb.
Speaking of morons, one of the occupational hazards of my new gig is getting to drive around town. I'm allergic to both AM talk and most strains of classic rock, so I end up listening to the Fox Sports show on AM 790. The co-hosts were rattling on today about why NASCAR didn't take away Edwards' win.
That's what NASCAR did, in essence. When Edwards lost 100 points, that knocked him down to 95 points for the day. That's the equivalent of a 23rd-place finish, which puts him at roughly the last car on the lead lap. NASCAR also took away the 10 bonus points Edwards will carry over into the Chase (assuming he makes it, that is). He and Roush do get to keep the
oversized check. They'll keep the trophy, too, though it'll be hard to look at it without thinking WE CHEATED TO WIN THIS THING!
The points is the big thing, and losing them will hurt. Next stop for NASCAR: Take away all of a driver's points from a race. Knocking Edwards from first to 20th overall will get a lot of people's attention.
This week's Small Team Rankings after the jump:
1--ROBBY GORDON
Small Team Rating: 61.5
Last week: First
Wins: 0
Driver: 7-R. Gordon
2--YATES
STR: 58.8
Last week: Second
Wins: 0
Drivers: 28-Kvapil, 38-Gilliland
3--HAAS CNC
STR: 56.4
Last week: Fourth
Wins: 0
Driver: 66-Riggs, 70-Mayfield
4--PETTY
STR: 51.5
Last week: Third
Wins: 0
Drivers: 43-B. Labonte, 45-K. Petty
5--HALL OF FAME
STR: 48.4
Last week: Fifth
Wins: 0
Driver: 96-Yeley
6--RED BULL
STR: 37.3
Last week: Sixth
Wins: 0
Drivers: 83-Vickers, 84-Allmendinger
Driver change: Mike Skinner will replace AJA next week. Skinner's a retread and hardly your best long-term solution. But he can't do any worse than a guy who can't even get his car in the race.
7--BILL DAVIS
STR: 35.3
Last week: Tenth
Wins: 0
Drivers: 22-Blaney, 23/27-cast of thousands
Driver news: Now that Mike Skinner is going to pinch hit in the 84, it's Johnny Benson time! Can't wait to see what he can do.
8--BAM
STR: 22.9
Last week: 11th
Wins: 0
Driver: 49-Schrader
9--FRONT ROW
STR: 22.5
Last week: Seventh
Wins: 0
Driver: 34-Andretti
10--FURNITURE ROW
STR: 21.9
Last week: Eighth
Wins: 0
Driver: 78-Furniture Row Joe
My take:
11--WOOD BROTHERS
STR: 18.0
Last week: Ninth
Wins: 0
Driver: 21-Elliott and Jo. Sauter
My take: That Johnny Sauter thing didn't work out so hot last week. Is that the last year for the Wood Brothers?
Comments (3)
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John, stop perpetuating a myth. The #99 didn't have a loose tank lid it was MIA. It's been reported as such by the AP's Jenna Fryer and confirmed by Buddy Baker who was quoting as saying he viewed the images during The Backflip that clearly had the lid missing.
One thing I will agree on, the Commission has set a terrible precedent. From now on every team (if they're smart) will use the "I didn't know" defense.
Ultimate responsibility will be shifted to a shock producer or whoever made their inaccurate tach that caused a speeding penalty.
NASCAR will rue the day they made this decision, it might not be this week or this year but sooner or later it will bite them squarely in the butt.
Posted on March 6, 2008 5:52 PM
That first paragraph of yours - that's sarcasm, right Marc? Sometimes it's hard to tell.
Yeah, I saw that in the AP story we ran in the N&R. My first thought was, Where's the pic? My second was, How in the heck can you tell? I mean, there's a lid to keep the oil, you know, in the engine?
The "I didn't know" didn't seem to work -- Edwards didn't keep those 100 points, right? NASCAR in this case was consistent with what it has done in the past. I'd like to see them take *all* of the points. Taking 180-some points out of a driver's hide will really, really hurt.
Posted on March 7, 2008 6:53 AM
Monday update, now that I finally figured out what the deal was with Edwards at Vegas:
Here are a couple of things that helped me.
This blog: http://stockcarscience.com/blog/index.php/2008/03/05/oil_tank_covers
This picture: http://www.motorsport.com/photos/nascar-cup/2008/lv/nascarcup-2008-lv-as-0169.jpg Best I can tell, that hole in the plate in the back seat of Edwards' car is the lid in question.
Posted on March 10, 2008 10:57 AM