Kenseth, big penatly along with Gibb's and crew chief

[harvey lee]

Looks like there was a connecting rod issue and the penalties are severe.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/nascar-inspection-joe-gibbs-racing-matt-kenseth-engine-042413#!dTPLv

[SledNeck]

Guess we know why he was so fast that day.......

[PurpleFloyd]

I can't see how on connecting rod 3 grams lighter than the rest is a big advantage. For one thing it would throw the engine out of balance unless you made up that weight in the piston or crank.

[harvey lee]

Does not matter if it is an advantage or not, it was not within the specs for a legal connecting rod.

Who knows what the engine shop did to the motor.

[PurpleFloyd]

Oh no, I get that and they know the rules so there should be a fine. I am just not sold on this being a way to cheat to win a race. if it comes to light that taking weight off one connecting rod can give you an advantage I will be very interested in the physics of it. Until then I don't buy into it being a cheating move but rather a mess up where maybe they pulled a connecting rod from another bin by accident.

[LightningBG]

Totally ridiculous. There is no way they could have known it was under by 3 grams. Fine TRD if anything. Maybe they should just issue cars an hour before the race if they are going to be so picky.

[harvey lee]

I would disagree. I would say that every part that goes into those engines are checked for issues and weighed. Don't think the engine shops just bolt parts into the motor without going over each part. Those parts are all well checked before the motor is built.

if it says it in the rules and you are found wrong, I guess then you should have checked.

I have seen at Go kart national championship where they DQed a champion as thier carb was a thousanth of an inch off or the piston popped above the cyclinder deck a 1/2 thou to much. Even in karting, the motor builder check and mic every part to make sure it is within specs. Yes, 1/2 thoudanth of an inch and they were dq'ed.

I know with our modififed motors, we make sure that the motor builder we use never puts a motor together that will not tech legal.

The rules are the rules.

[LMITOUT]

There is no way they could have known it was under by 3 grams.

[harvey lee]

You hit the nail on the head Lmit.

[UKCM]

Ok did anybody else just notice, Harvey and Lmit agreed. World Peace may be attainable.

[Juneau4]

Never Happen

So hows Hamlin gonna do when he comes back?

[reddog]

8 cylinders light by 1 gram apiece..I can see the cheater label.

1 cylinder weighs 3 grams light, and the other 7 weigh 2 grams heavy.(as per spec)., I dont know.. Actually, I dont care much either....

A dollar bill weighs 1 gram...

[Juneau4]

The toyota's have to try and cheat just to be competative with other cheating makes of cars,-(No names or makes mentioned)

[candiru]

I wonder what the Lord thinks of their cheating.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

Trust me they knew exactly what they were doing. For example 3 grams doesnt sound like much but take it x8 and you have 24 grams of rotating mass taken out of the rotating assembly which may not sound like much but may ad up to a couple horse at the end of the day. For all you sled guys out there, add or subtract 3 grams of weight out of each of the 3 weights in your drive clutch and see what happens! It makes a huge difference and in todays world of nascar especially for the top teams I think they will take every single little gain they can come up with.

[harvey lee]

Ok did anybody else just notice, Harvey and Lmit agreed. World Peace may be attainable.

Just goes to show, one can never say never.

[Uncle Bill]

If he had stuck with Ford he wouldn't have to cheat.

[PurpleFloyd]

Trust me they knew exactly what they were doing. For example 3 grams doesnt sound like much but take it x8 and you have 24 grams of rotating mass taken out of the rotating assembly which may not sound like much but may ad up to a couple horse at the end of the day. For all you sled guys out there, add or subtract 3 grams of weight out of each of the 3 weights in your drive clutch and see what happens! It makes a huge difference and in todays world of nascar especially for the top teams I think they will take every single little gain they can come up with.

I agree with what you are saying if he took that weight off of EACH rod but it clearly says it was 3 grams short on ONE rod and it sound like you know motors so you would know taking 3 ounces off of one without making it back up in a piston or the crank is going to throw the rotating mass out of balance.

[harvey lee]

Let's say it was a mistake, it is still against the rules of NASCAR. They let this slide and then there are 2 rods different or something else.

Gotta have rules and they have to be followed.

I would be shocked if they put this motor together without checking anything to make sure they fall withing the rule limits.

Thier engine R&D could have found something that noone else has tried and maybe that worked, this we do not know. The top teams always try to find that little something to get a advantage over the other top teams.

We were not there when they teched the motor so we really do not know all the facts. We only need to know one, the motor was not within specs.

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm admittedly a Kenseth fan but do agree with the punishment. The rules are there to keep folks honest. I just think that it sucks for the driver in this mishap because they rarely know what's going on. Call it plausible deniability or whatever, but these dudes shuttle from track to commercial to studio to track, race, and then are told that their car didn't meet spec.

It's too bad for Matt but that's the business.

[IL Res]

As an avid motor head, "cheating" in motorsports is a common everyday occurrence. The only way to get a performance over the completion is to try different combinations. NASCAR teams thru out its history have ALWAYS tried this approach. Its called a "liberal interpretation of the rules". Smokey Yunich built perfect 7/8 scale cars. Richard Petty drove cars that lowered themselves after hitting the 1st hard bump. His engine builder/ cousin, Dale Inman was kicked out for life for building oversize cubic inch motors, Ken Schrader got caught cheating by using hollowed out carb studs on plate tracks, Uncle Mikey got caught using doped up fuel, Jeff Gordon got caught using carbon fiber brake rotors, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson were both caught using dummy oil tanks that pressurized the interior of their cars to create xtra downforce, and the list goes on and on. Kenseth has just "joined the club".

[harvey lee]

I totally agree. Teams have been pushing the grey areas for years or since the beginning of racing.

Evey team that wants to win has to push the rules or they will be left in the dust. NASCAR's job is to make sure noone is pushing it too far.

That's why they need a rule book.

I do not believe Matt or his team did anything that others have also have not tried. Now he simply has to pay the pieper.

When NASCAR gets sick of the pushing of the limits, they will then have much more severe penalties. Till then, push the rules or don't win.

[CaptainMusky]

I understand rules are rules but you can't take that amount of weight off one connecting rod without making it up elsewhere in that piston. That engine should have blown.

Do they have spec for pistons etc? If so I bet the piston was over allowing this thing to stay together. Should be some common sense here somewhere

[harvey lee]

Common sense says do not bend the rules to far or you may have to pay for it.

This will continue to happen all season with others. Part of the game.

WE do not know what if anything they did to the piston or crank. We know the motor did not blow.

[CaptainMusky]

Exactly Harvey. One connecting rod and the motor didn't blow? If they had done this to all of the rods then I'd cry foul but what good is one going to do? Nothing. If anything it would do more harm than good.