DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Gordon, Johnson fail initial inspection at Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. -- Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Gordon and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson were banned from on-track activities Friday, and their status for Sunday's event at Infineon Raceway was in jeopardy after NASCAR discovered illegal front-end modifcations in initial inspection.

The cars of neither Gordon, the defending race champion, nor Johnson will be allowed to practice or qualify Friday.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said both cars "failed the initial inspection ... as a result of body modifications found to be outside NASCAR tolerances. The front fender [of both cars] was modified outside of NASCAR regulations. They did not meet the C2 template inspection."

According to Poston, Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 and No. 25 cars, for Kyle Busch and Casey Mears, passed inspections.

Poston added, "both teams have an opportunity to repair and resubmit their cars" for inspection up to the start of practice Saturday. "Assuming they pass inspection, they can practice [Saturday] and start at the rear of the field [Sunday]," he said.

"It's important to know this is a Car of Tomorrow penalty," Poston said of the short-term severity of the sanction. "The inspection process and NASCAR's response to Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe.

"We're going to keep this car in check. It's important to know all cars in the field are starting out equal and have the ability to win the race."

Poston said both teams' crew chiefs, Steve Letarte on the No. 24 and Chad Knaus on the No. 48, would be allowed to supervise the repairs, and at this point, NASCAR had no plans to immediately confiscate the cars.

The decision on further penalties would be made next week, Poston said.

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/06/22/jgordon.jjohnson.sonoma.inspection/index.html

At it again I see.

Oh c'mon every team in there does it and from time to time they all get caught. Name of the game. It would be nice if both of them got bumped from Sunday's race as it would do nothing but help Kenseth .

It's not cheating unless your caught....

Which in there case...There cheating..

Hmm this is surprising.



I figured on work being done on Gordon would be on his REAR end



KING

I bet there's no 30 day suspension or docking of 100 points for either of them like Eury got.....then again, it was the golden children this time.

*** You are ignoring this user ***



As Sgnt. Carter would say..............................
I CAN'T HEAR YOU

May be someone else can explain what this means to you?

Awww, I can't reply to a thread that you are in because you can't take someone calling you on your hypocrisy? You put someone on ignore then reply to them.

I guess NASCAR didn't like the 700 point lead that Gordon had over Jr so they figured they better do something to even up the playing field since it's a road course and Gordon would more than likely have another top 5 while Jr finished about 20th or so.....

Don't worry, they won't suspend Golden Boy's crew chief or dock him 100 points like they did Eury, so you can relax and enjoy the continued blind eye turned toward the 24 and 48

I'm not worried....he can skip the race entirely and still be the points leader.....
They oughta just give him the Winston Cu, er, I mean the Nextel, er um, is it the Sprint Cup yet??

Whatever it is....they oughta just hand it to him. The new points system is a farce though, so we gotta wait for the "playoffs."

Yawn....

Actually, I like the new system even though it cost Stewart a championship last year. To me, it makes it more interesting. That's just me, though. My dad hates it and has a tendancy to break things when discussing it.

Me and your dad would get along great....

Probably, he calls me a jerk when we talk Nascar, too Then again, he hates Gordon and Hendricks with a passion.

Illegal mods...they have to dock him points right? but, they can do more along the lines of what they did to the Jimmie Johnson last year.

They should anyway. But if the "modifications" werent anything of real value, then maybe not.

either way, they should take some action

Probably asked and answered already, but who was it this year that got fined for having an illegal deck spoiler? It was pretty stiff, if I remember correctly.

It was the #8 team....

They were docked 100 points, Tony Eury Jr was suspended for 6 races and fined 100 grand as well.

Gordon, JJ fail inspections at Sonoma

By MIKE HARRIS
AP Auto Racing Writer


SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon had an unexpected and unwanted day off Friday.

The cars of defending NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Johnson and series points leader Gordon failed inspection and were barred from all activity for the day at Infineon Raceway, including qualifying.

NASCAR said the No. 24 and No. 48 Chevrolets, both owned by Hendrick Motorsports, had modifications to the front fenders that were deemed illegal during morning inspection.

The Hendrick crews were allowed to repair them and they can race in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350, although starting from the rear of the 43-car field. Gordon, the four-time series champion, is the defending race winner.

"The cars have been repaired and I'm under the impression they will not receive an inspection sticker until tomorrow morning, which will allow the cars onto the racetrack," said Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. "The guys on both teams have done a good job getting the cars repaired. They are race-ready now."

But the damage was already done.

Doug Duchardt, vice president of development for Hendrick, called the modifications an honest mistake.

"We've been evolving and this was just the latest evolution of what we've been doing," he said. "Our understanding is that our cars fit the templates but that they were outside of what they would like to see within the templates."

Gordon came to Sonoma after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, on Wednesday.

"Well, obviously, nothing's going to ruin my day or weekend," Gordon said. "I'm on cloud nine. This has obviously been pretty devastating news at the race track. ... This definitely puts us in a box and we're going to have to work our way out of it."

The five-time Sonoma winner said pit strategy is going to be "extremely important."

"We're one of the best teams out there," he said. "I love the road courses and I know these guys have brought a great race car and I'm looking forward to getting out there, hopefully sometime tomorrow, and seeing what we've got for them on Sunday.

Johnson echoed his teammate and the co-owner of his car.

"We're going to start at the back and work our way forward," he said. "A lot of road course racing really falls into the strategy of the race and we'll just have to make the most of our poor track position to find the strategy and work our way up for a solid finish."

This is the first road race for NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, a bigger, bulkier and reputedly safer car that's been in development for seven years. It has run in six races this season, all on ovals.

"It's important to know that this is a Car of Tomorrow penalty," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "The inspection process and NASCAR's reaction to the Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe. We're going to keep this car in check.

"It's important to know that all cars in the field are starting out equal and all have the same opportunity to win as the other."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 100 points and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended six races after NASCAR discovered illegal brackets on the rear wing of the No. 8 COT Chevrolet last month at Darlington Raceway.

Last year, Knaus, was suspended for four races when he was caught cheating in qualifying before the Daytona 500. Johnson won the race without Knaus, who rejoined the team in March and helped Johnson win the Nextel Cup title.

Asked why the cars could still be allowed to pass inspection and race this weekend, Poston said: "That's been our practice in the past that we've given teams an opportunity to repair cars that have failed inspection, and we'll do the same here."

Poston said NASCAR would determine any further penalties assessed to the two Hendrick cars after officials return to their Daytona Beach, Fla., headquarters following the race.

Kurt Busch, who drives for Penske Racing, said he understands what NASCAR is trying to accomplish with the COT.

"If NASCAR's intentions are to create an equal playing field for everybody with the COT and you step out of line like this, you need to have your hands smacked, I guess," Busch said. "DEI did it with their rear spoiler and now you've got two Hendrick cars that are out of code."

But Busch said he doesn't expect missing a day of on-track action to slow down the Hendrick cars.

"You lose a little bit of practice time, but it's only an hour and a half today," he said. "It's not much. It's going to be bad though with those two cars starting in the back because guys up front aren't going to get any TV time."

Duchardt noted his team has won five of the first six COT races and each of those winning cars was sent to NASCAR's Research and Development Center and encountered no problems.

Hendrick has won 10 of 15 races overall this season, with both Gordon and Johnson winning four times. Their teammates, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears, whose cars passed the initial inspection Friday, have each won once.

And Jeff Gordon rebounds for yet another top 10 finish.

16 races.....14 top 10's.
5 poles
4 victories

It's already quite obvious who the winner of the Cup should be this year.

And the points lead is just gonna get bigger and bigger.......until after the 26th race and they have to re-set the points to make it "interesting."

What a crock of crap.

I agree.

I REALLY really think that if theyre gonna use the "playoff" system for the long haul. The races should only have those people in the chase.

Since the sponsors wouldnt allow that because of lost money. It wont happen though. SO, its time to ditch the chase I think.



On the comment of Gordon's lead growing. Dont be too sure, its prolly gonna drop 100 points here in the next few days

I doubt seriously that they will dock him points. Gordon is Nascar's golden boy along with Jimmie Johnson. It will be shocking if they give him the same penalty they have others.

Quote:

---

Apples and oranges....

---

I like fruit!

Gee thanks alot!

No, he's FULL of bologna.

My pleasure Shotty, now roll over and go to sleep.

Actually, it's the same thing. They even admitted to altering the equipment. I know you'll disagree with it because it'd Gordon and that's ok. Michael Waltrip didn't run the Daytona 500 before he was docked his points.

Quote:

---

Actually, it's the same thing.

---

Actually it's not. (and why do I feel like I'm pounding my head against a brick wall???)

The 8 team participated in the entire race with illegal parts.

The 24 and the 48 teams did not.....

And if you read the articles about it Rick Hendrick is not happy because he feels it is a grey area with the car of tomorrow and the rules.

Quote:

---

I know you'll disagree with it because it'd Gordon and that's ok.

---

No, I disagree with it because of what the issue is. It wouldn't matter it if was Kenseth, or Stewart or Kyle Petty. If there is an area where the rule is not clear, then you would have to allow it to pass as an issue of ignorance and not intended cheating.

They're winning nearly every week, why would they have to cheat???

First, it's not a "grey area". It didn't pass inspection because they modified the car. It's pretty cut and dried. Of course, the offending party will CLAIM it is a grey area. It only makes sense. Second, modifying equipment is modifying equipment. As I said, Michael Waltrip was docked points and he was caught in illegal activities before the Daytona 500. Therefore, the precedent has been set that it doesn't matter when it occurs, just that it occurs.

Why would they cheat because they've been winning? Seriously? C'mon, shep, you're smarter than that.....maybe they've been winning because of their actions

It's really all about the Chase
Darrell Waltrip
AllWaltrip.com


Folks, it looks like my good buddies over at Hendrick Motorsports — No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus and No. 24 crew chief Steve Letarte — got themselves in a bit of trouble over the weekend.

Penalties may be coming down, but I agree with Mr. Hendrick. Missing qualifying and starting in the back of the field is a pretty serious penalty in and of itself. I'm just wondering if NASCAR thinks that's sufficient or not.
Having been a car owner and driver, I get frustrated with some of the things that happen in our sport. NASCAR tells us what they're checking and what they're not checking so teams always play around with what they're not checking. Puffing up the front fenders of the Car of Tomorrow/New Car is something that's done in broad daylight. You're not trying to hide anything or sneak something by an official.

I get so upset when crew chiefs and mechanics are called "cheaters." I hate that word. In any other sport, you violate a rule, get called for an illegal procedure or a foul. Pitchers brush batters off the plate with a fastball. In no other sport does the title "cheater" apply. It really bothers me because it gives our sport and its competitors a bad reputation. These situations give the people in the sport and the sport itself a bad name.

NASCAR enforces the rules, and they're the judge and jury. If they say it's wrong, it's wrong. But why do we have inspectors? When the car is inspected, the inspectors say, "This is wrong. You need to fix it. This is out of line. You need to repair it. We're not going to accept this or that." That's been the norm for 50 years with only a few exceptions. In most of those exceptions, somebody was blatantly trying to hide something and pull the wool over NASCAR's eyes, but that's not the case here.

There are so many unknowns with the New Car. Working on the car — particularly on a road course — just doesn't make any sense to me. That's why I say it's all about the Chase.

Let's say NASCAR ups the fine that Tony Eury Jr. received from $100,000 and 100 points to $200,000 and 200 points. Jeff Gordon will still the point leader. Obviously, it tightens up the Chase because Denny Hamlin would only be 71, instead of 271, points back. It doesn't necessarily hurt Gordon; it just moves everybody else closer to him.

Sometimes, a team can be too good for its own good. I have a theory that the nail that sticks up the highest gets hit the hardest. If you're 271 points ahead 16 races into the season, and you've won four races, then I wouldn't take any chances. If you do take a chance, you might beat yourself, which is one of my pet peeves. In this case, the No. 24 team beat itself to a certain degree.

While I wasn't there and didn't looking at the car, I have an idea about what's going on. I don't see why they weren't given an opportunity to straighten up the fenders a little bit, go back through tech and practice and qualify on Friday. Everything would have been fine. Sometimes — and this is just me on my soapbox — it's much ado about nothing. When the penalties come down, however, somebody is going to say, "Whoa! This is much ado about something, and it's something pretty big."

The Chase has changed everything. With 40 bonus points apiece, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson just want to be in the top 12 when they get to Richmond and have all of these infractions and problems behind them so they're ready to race in the final 10 events. That's how most teams looke at the season. Even if they parked Gordon for a race, he still would be ahead. If they parked him AND took away 200 points, he still would be in the top 12.

NASCAR can hardly do anything to a team that's already in the top 12 and have much of an effect on the outcome of his season. For example, Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost 100 points, and he's already back in the top 12 so that's one of the unintended consequences of the Chase. It makes penalizing guys a whole lot more difficult.

Quote:

---

As I said, Michael Waltrip was docked points and he was caught in illegal activities before the Daytona 500. Therefore, the precedent has been set that it doesn't matter when it occurs, just that it occurs.

---

Waltrip had an additive in his manifold to attempt to increase horsepower.

This is blatant cheating and is QUITE a bit different....

It's different than incresing the downforce on a road course to increase stability and therefore speed?

A lot different....the fenders were still within the specs, hence it being called a grey area.

Waltrip's team was intentionally trying to gain an unfair advantage that they thought they could sneak through the tech inspection.

How can ya sneak fenders through??? Duh....

Actually, the fenders weren't within spec, hence the penalty. They thought they found a "gray area" and it wasn't. The whole point is that Waltrip was docked points and his crew chief suspended and this was BEFORE the race. Therefore the precedent is set. Don't worry and waste too much time arguing. It's very unlikely that the golden boy will be punished further.

And the one,single most driver that the word "cheater" was attatched to because of his driving style,was Dale Sr.

Some of those who "hate to hear" the term NOW,sure didn't have any problem tossing that term around THEN.

Again I say "duh."

You're delusional, same as always.

BTW the rumors are that they are going to severely penalize the 48 and 24 teams....so don't be so sure they are going to get off scot free.

But hey, it will tighten up the playing field at least!