When it comes to NASCAR being fair, one might want to question it.
NASCAR inconsistency in the NASCAR rules is nothing new -- it is talked about in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series via professional print publications, numerous websites, blogs and fan sites. Lucky for those drivers there is a voice for them.
When you go down to the grassroots regional levels of NASCAR, the Tours, the Grand National divisions, there is less support in place. It is often a case of a driver that pays the fine and takes the penalty or pays for an appeal and then pays the fine and takes the penalty.
But there should be a voice for the little guy, because things aren’t right. Case in point is Boris Said and Jim Inglebright receiving 5-lap penalties for unapproved shock absorber components, pistons. Said originally finished 2nd at the race at Infineon Raceway and Inglebright originally finished 10th at the same event, but after the 5-lap penalty from NASCAR in Daytona they were moved back to 22nd and 23rd. This penalty translated to a loss of 83 points for Said and 40 for Inglebright. These assessed penalties are not even close to being consistent with penalties for similar infractions or even for more severe infractions.
The severity of NASCAR's penalty on the teams should be reserved for infractions that are truly malevolent, that calculatedly ignore guidelines.
The NASCAR rulebook basically says for an organization, to be successful, it must have good rules and fair enforcement.
As I see it, NASCAR failed to reach the first objective of good rules, the rules were unclear and the penalties inconsistent. Said and Inglebright will probably have to appeal to test the second objective and find out if NASCAR will be fair.
Said is unlikely to appeal, though maybe he should. The race for him besides being fun was more practice. He isn’t racing for points in the Grand National West Series. Inglebright on the other hand is and 40 points in a series that only runs 12 races is huge. And please, let’s not call it a 5-lap penalty; let’s call it like it is -- a champion’s point penalty. Without being docked the 40 points Inglebright would be sitting 5th in the standings and only 4 points off of 4th.
I doubt either Said or Inglebright spitefully put unapproved parts on the car. Either one of these guys can win on a roadcourse, and in the case of Inglebright, he has certainly won at the track before and having done so would have known the car would be torn down.
Where does one go to find consistency in NASCAR? Even the most malicious of infractions is typically 25 points. You would think the NASCAR rulebook would be the source but the penalty is not listed there, so the next logical move is to turn to historical NASCAR data on similar violations. Traditionally NASCAR fines the crew chief $1000 for a shock rule violation and the driver keeps the points they earned.
On two recent shock violations there were no driver points docked, but instead the crew chiefs were accessed a $1,000 fine. Now compare that to the penalty that Said and Inglebright were given. Said originally won $7,600 and Inglebright 3,900, but by virtue of losing their finishing position, in effect they were fined $6260/ 83 points and $1070/40 points respectively. Why are Said and Inglebright measured by a different yardstick, why are they not being treated as the norm?
For example, when Wally Rogers, crew chief of the No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. in the NASCAR Busch Series, was penalized for violating Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used that do not conform to NASCAR rules: Section 20A -- 12.3R: right rear shock absorber exceeded the specified nitrogen gas pressure), there were no driver points taken. A $1000 fine was issued and that was it.
The same penalty applied when Brad Parrott, crew chief of the No. 42 Dodge driven by Casey Mears, was accused of violating Sections 12-4-A, 12-4-Q and 20A-12.3S (left rear shock absorber must fully compress and fully extend), as with Rogers there was a $1000 fine and for a second time no driver points were taken.
Again the question arises, where is the uniformity within NASCAR? These drivers are not being treated equitably.
According to the 2006 NASCAR rulebook, if Said or Inglebright want to appeal, they will have to make a written request for a hearing to the National Stock Car Racing Commission within 10 calendar days from the time they were notified of the penalty. They will also have to pay $200 non refundable for a hearing fee. This written request and fee must be hand-delivered to George Silbermann, Chairman of the National Stock Car Racing Commission. Oddly enough Silbermann is also Director of Administration and one of three executives overseeing the Grand National division. Now being that this would mean Silbermann is directly involved in this appeal, he likely will have to disqualify himself.
Even with Silbermann disqualifying himself, these appeals are rarely found to be in favor of the team. If the right thing is done, this time because of the gross variation, the appeal could possibly be found in favor of these two drivers. There certainly has to be some fair-minded people on the commission.
When trying to find similar large penalties in NASCAR regional racing, the bigger violations involve safety, which one would think should be a bigger penalty than a shock violation. Some examples of NASCAR Regional violations:
Driver: Charlie Bradberry, NASCAR SE Tour
Penalty: $500 fine probation
Infraction: hitting another competitor’s car during a caution period.
Driver: Scott Lynch, West Grand National
Penalty: $1,000 fine, 25 points, probation
Infraction: driving through the pit area in an unsafe manner
Driver: Ryan Moore, East Grand National
Penalty: $1,000 fine, 25 driver points, suspension, probation
Infractions: failure to follow the directive of a NASCAR official; hitting another competitor's car after the completion of the race -- twice.
But back to penalties for unapproved shocks, the fine is consistently $1000 …until it was Said and Inglebright with unapproved shocks/piston.
With the penalties so out of whack, one may also start to become suspicious if the random teching of Inglebright’s car was really random, aferall.
Said lost the most money wise, but Inglebright lost not only money, he lost points in the champions race and more importantly valuable time with his sponsors, the Jelly Belly people. Infineon meant a lot to Jelly Belly. Instead of his sponsors enjoying post-race time with their driver at their home track at a race that means the most to them, they stood alone outside the Jelly Belly hauler, while their driver reported to the NASCAR hauler.
Should Said and Inglebright have been fined, even if they didn’t know the part on their car was illegal? Yes, and if not them then maybe the penalty should have been what NASCAR has historically done, and fined the crew chiefs $1000 each. The rules do say it is the responsibility of the crew chief and not NASCAR to ensure the shock absorbers are used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and specifications. I would think if that was the case either the car owner or driver would actually help pay the fine as in this level of racing crew chiefs are often volunteers.
But the real issue is not whether these drivers were legal or not. We all want NASCAR to keep things even, if they had unapproved parts they should answer to the penalty. The issue is NASCAR’s deviation of the accessed penalty and the fact that Said and Inglebright seem to be held to different standards than all the other drivers competing under the rules of NASCAR.
Editors Note: Calls to Daytona, the issuer of the penalties went unanswered.
