NASCAR rules set to protect COT

Much is being said about the penalties issued by NASCAR to the Hendrick teams of Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson. Were any rules violated? Are the penalties too severe or not? Just what is NASCAR trying to accomplish anyway?

NASCAR is trying to preserve the integrity of its COT. They seemed to be enforcing their rules more vigorously for the COT than they have in past years for today’s car.

The template developed for the COT is like a cradle that drops down over the top of the car and measures just about every area of the car. Strangely, the No. 24 and No. 48 cars passed the template inspection. In past years it was acceptable to work on areas of the car not covered by the template. NASCAR would decide after the race if a rule modification was needed for future races. With competition so close, crew chiefs have to gain every edge they can, especially with the COT. Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus went to work on an area of their cars that were not measured with the template. By altering a part of the fender, they increased down force, thus improving speed. Although they passed the template inspection, NASCAR looked at the modification and decided to park the cars for the rest of the day, including practice and qualifying.

The crews worked on the cars overnight and brought them back into the shape NASCAR wanted, and were allowed to race. Fines, penalty points, and the suspension of the two crew chiefs for the next six weeks were issued by NASCAR later in the week. Hendrick Motorsports can easily cover the fines, Gordon is still leading the points race and Johnson is still in the top 10, and the teams have shown they can race just as effectively with substitute crew chiefs. But all the teams have gotten the message: DON’T MESS WITH THE CAR OF TOMORROW!

I believe you have to give crew chiefs a little leeway in improving the capabilities of the cars. Otherwise we will end up with 43 cars racing around the track playing follow the leader. Some of the most successful crew chiefs in the business have admitted to bending the rules in order to get an advantage. Many of the best have been hired by NASCAR to assist in the inspection process.

An interesting aspect of the fines is that the money goes into the points fund and the drivers get the money back at the end of the year. The driver with the most points gets the most money. And who are the drivers with most of the points? You guessed it ‘ the Hendrick drivers.

Some fans have expressed the opinion that the drivers and cars should have been disallowed to race last week. Of course these were not the Gordon and Johnson fans. This could never work. The only way NASCAR can exist is with the fans and sponsors. A few weeks ago Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the same situation Gordon was in last week. Imagine a race with Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser car sitting on the sidelines. I don’t know if the fans would have let the race go on.

And then you have the sponsors. The most successful team owners don’t spend much of their own money on their teams. The large sponsors foot the bills. If NASCAR were to park a car for a race, sponsors are going to pull out and leave the game.

I see NASCAR continuing to tweak the rule book and continuing to hand out fines and penalties. And I can see fans like me having an opinion about the situation.