LIMITOUT, JR cheats also

[TNFL]

I started a new post so as not to hijack the other one.

This also indicates #17

Monday, February 25

NASCAR puts off penalizing Kenseth

Associated Press

Kenseth

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR officials said they will wait until Tuesday to take action against Roush Racing for failing a post-race inspection after driver Matt Kenseth won the Subway 400.

Kenseth's Ford was found to be about a quarter-inch lower than the minimum 51 inches off the ground in the inspection about three hours after Sunday's race in Rockingham, N.C.

It was expected a fine or other penalty would be announced on Monday, but NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo said the announcement was postponed, though he gave no reason for the delay.

Dale Earnhardt, Inc., was fined $25,000 for a nearly identical infraction following Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory last October in Talladega, Ala.

NASCAR said Sunday that Kenseth's victory and championship points are likely to stand.

[TNFL]

#2

NASCAR Confiscates Earnhardt's Transmission

And Other Confiscations

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and several others could find themselves facing a monetary or points deficit even before their cars hit the track in preparation for the Feb. 20 Daytona 500. During pre-qualifying inspection Friday at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR inspectors confiscated the transmission from Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet because they determined the team had used the wrong gear ratio. Also during inspection, the intake manifold was confiscated from Robby Gordon’s No. 7 Chevrolet because of unapproved external modifications. Those two are the most serious of the infractions found Friday. NASCAR officials said any penalties would not be announced until after the Daytona 500, since the inspections took place on the cars the drivers planned to use in the race.

Also confiscated Friday:

• Unapproved window nets from the cars of Kerry Earnhardt and Mike Skinner.

• Unapproved fire extinguishers from the cars of Andy Belmont and Larry Gunselman.

[TNFL]

#3

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hit with a $10,000 fine and the loss of 25 NASCAR Nextel Cup points for purposely causing a caution flag in the race at Bristol. Earnhardt had fallen behind because of a tire problem and was in danger of going down a lap when he spun, bringing out a yellow flag that allowed him to pit for tires and stay on the lead lap during the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway last Sunday. He wound up finishing 11th. After the spin, Earnhardt was heard telling his team on the radio that he had never spun on purpose before.

[HOF#13]

TNFL...I really don't think we need to go down this road. Nothing to gain by opening a hornet's nest like this. Let's all just agree that ALL cup teams push the limits with what is and is not allowable. It's been happening since they started racing, and it's not going to end anytime soon.

[LMITOUT]

We're happy for ya.

[Sifty]

I see this one going south in a big way.

Let's keep it fun.

Sifty

[jbell1981]

I'd bet that every team cheats or has cheated, its just the ones that get caught that we hear about.

[TNFL]

Quote:

---

Let's all just agree that ALL cup teams push the limits with what is and is not allowable. It's been happening since they started racing, and it's not going to end anytime soon.

---

Thats all I want, is for everyone to admit what you just stated.

He started it with a deliberate Hendrick bash in a thread that had nothing to do with placing blame for cheating. I just figured if LO wanted to go at this subject again we could start a new thread instead of hijacking the previous one.

[lawdog]

You are right TNFL, he took a cheap shot at Hendrick Motor Sports but that's just common for most who are jealous of the best team in the business!!!!

[harvey lee]

Now that we know that everyone cheats, lets get this back on track. Everytime we go here, someone ends up getting upset.

[LMITOUT]

No cheap shots...I only deal in facts.

[TNFL]

Me too! the facts are listed above. Are you ready to take the next big step?

[LMITOUT]

I hardly consider those infractions listed above as gaining a substantial edge on the competition, and NASCAR felt the same way or there would have been stiffer penalties.

I also feel that debating which offenses are worse than others is pointless and not worth worrying about when the fishing opener is only a day away and we should be thinking of FUN things rather than who can get the last jab in.

Time to go fishing!

[NAPAFISH]

Speaking of rule breaking Fox Sports made a list that was printed around with Daytona time

5 Robin Pemberton

A crew chief from 1985 through 2001, Pemberton makes the list for no reason other than the fact that he holds the distinction of being the most monetarily penalized single mechanic in NASCAR history. On the list of NASCAR's top ten biggest fines, Pemberton shows up three different times for a total of $85,000.

The biggest of those penalties came in 1990, when a carburetor spacer plate was found in Mark Martin's car following a win at Richmond in late February. The dime part cost Pemberton 40 large. The team was also docked 46 points, which hurt more than a little when Martin ended up losing the championship to Dale Earnhardt by only 26 points in November.

What's Pemberton up to now? He's on the NASCAR payroll as VP of Competition. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right

4. Ray Evernham

Evernham has only been busted big-time once — officially. During his first title run as Jeff Gordon's crew chief in 1995, Ray was fined $60,000 for using "illegal suspension" parts in the 24 car at Charlotte.

There was another time, however, that happened so fast and so quietly that it got very little attention at the time. Evernham and Gordon won The Winston all-star race in 1997 with a car that was so radical in its chassis design and construction that the team was told to tear it apart and never bring anything like it back to the track ever.

So, what was so radical about it?

Evernham looks confused at the question. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yeah, right.

Evernham's legacy of experimentation is still alive and well at Hendrick Motorsports, despite the fact that he left the team seven years ago. Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson are making sure of that. Meanwhile, having all three crew chiefs sent home from Daytona this year is one of the most delicious tales in cheating history. But even that triple play wasn't enough to crack our triumverate of tricksters

3. Gary Nelson

When Nelson hung up his crew chief clipboard to become NASCAR's top rules enforcer in the mid-1990's, his former competitors were up in arms.

"It's like letting one of the inmates run the asylum," said Darrell Waltrip at the time.

Nelson had made his name as an "innovator" with DiGard Racing and Bobby Allison in the early 1980's and later on the payroll of Hendrick Motorsports, working with Geoff Bodine and DW himself. Nelson was a master of the gray area. During Allison's 1983 title run, NASCAR was so sure that Nelson was hiding extra fuel somewhere in Allison's car it was torn apart twice during the season. Nothing was found.

Nelson is also given credit for one of the most infamous inventions in NASCAR history — a device that emptied lead buckshot hidden inside the roll cage when the driver pulled a lever inside the cockpit, thus lightening the weight of a car during a race. It is a story that has become legendary, even outside of the garage.

During an online chat session a couple of years ago, the validity of the "bombs away" story was asked by a fan to Nelson himself. His response? "My memory is becoming fuzzy on that. Next question."

2. Junior Johnson

What else do you expect from a man who got his start outrunning "revenuers" on the backroads of North Carolina? Johnson won 50 Cup races as a driver and 140 as a car owner. From 1953 to 1995, Johnson and NASCAR stood nose-to-nose waiting on the other to blink first.

Big gas cans, using lighter weight metals during engine construction, cars that pushed the outer limits of legal aerodynamics... they all originated in Wilkes County, North Carolina in Johnson's shop. Leaning on knowledge gained from hauling moonshine through the mountains, his cars always seemed to have a few more horses under the hood than the competition.

In 1966, he showed up at Atlanta with a car that was supposed to be a Ford, but looked like nothing that had ever come out of Detroit. Nicknamed "The Banana" because of its Holly Farms yellow paint scheme, it amazingly still fit into NASCAR's templates. The Banana ran one race before NASCAR told Johnson to never bring it back again.

Twenty-five years later, Johnson and crew chief Mike Beam were suspended for 12 weeks for using an illegal carburetor in Tommy Ellis's car at Charlotte (it was reduced to four weeks after an appeal). And in 1995, Johnson went out in style with a $45,000 fine for using an illegal intake manifold in Brett Bodine's car at Daytona.

You know, Jeff Hammond always says that everything he learned about racing came from Junior. Hmmmmm.

1. Smokey Yunick

The only thing that Yunick did better than bend the rules was use cuss words. A high school dropout, the Daytona Beach resident possessed one of the most brilliant automotive minds of the 20th century, and never hesitated from using it to his advantage on Sunday afternoons.

In his three-volume autobiography published shortly after his death in 2001, he even addressed what he believed was cheating and what was not. In the volume dedicated to NASCAR, entitled "All Right You Sons-a-complains, Let's Have a Race", he estimates that by 1970 over half of the NASCAR rulebook was dedicated solely to him. He is also quick to point this out as one of the great accomplishments of his life.

Operating in the gray areas of the rulebook, Yunick says, is not cheating. However, there are four things that he considers "real cheating": 1. Using a big engine. 2. Using a big gas tank. 3. Using expensive exotic materials to save weight. 4. Very expensive aerodynamic rule violations.

"Now, three and four," he wrote. "I consider more 'chicken s---' than cheating... Big engines and big gas tanks, I have no mental tolerance for. What brains does that take?"

And that's how you become the best cheater ever, young mechanics. Violate the honor code... with honor all the while.

Dishonorable Mentions

Tony Furr (three fines of $25,000 or more and a four-race suspension)

Glenn Dunnaway (had the first win in NASCAR history taken away for illegal rear springs)

Chad Knaus (three penalties of $25,000 or more, three separate multi-race suspensions)

(Ryan McGee Fox Sports)

[muc33]

I FEEL SO GUILTY NOW....

YES....

IT'S TRUE.....

I CHEATED IN 4TH GRADE ON A MATH QUIZ.... I JUST COULDN'T HANDLE THE PRESSURE ANY LONGER.... I APPOLOGIZE

GUYS, CAN YOU FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS TO FORGIVE ME.

2+2=5

[Sifty]

muc33, Thanks for coming to the table with this. We have all long know about this. Back in the fall of 1983 Mrs. Brewer told us she thought somthing was up.

I hope that you feel much better about things now.

I hope you all have a great fishing opener.

Have a fun and safe weekend.

Sifty

[TNFL]

Muc33, it takes a lot of courage to do what you just did. We are all very proud of you.

[yaggie]

Need to clarify cheating.

If you get caught its cheating

If you do not get caught its good stratigee

[LMITOUT]

Woo-hoo!!! The #8 is the first team to have a rules infraction on the Car of Tomorrow!! Way to be the first!

If that isn't MN media spin, I don't know what is.

[TNFL]

YES!!! perfect timing!!! For those in denial, your CROW has been served. ENJOY!!!

[HOF#13]

Man...way to jinx them TNFL. Maybe this forum has more power than I ever thought.

[TNFL]

If only my fantasy picks had that same power, ohhh wait, I did have hamlin and Newman on my B bench, and I did start Gordon.

[LMITOUT]

I don't know what you're CROWING about...I never said that DEI has never been caught for rules infractions. But it is known that Knaus himself has a list as long as his illegal shocks of convictions....ones much more serious than those you had listed and were deemed so by NASCAR.

[TNFL]

Really, then list them. Do your homework!

My counter point would be that the Hendrick guys are just smarter at making blatent "rules infractions" look like racing accidents. I.E. we didn't tighten that down tight enough and it uhhhh slipped during the race, you can't blame us for a parts malfunction !!!

My personal feeling is if you get caught once, you are as guilty as anyone who gets caught multiple times.

If any of you are married just ask your wife if one infraction is no big deal.