4 more Nationwide teams to appeal Daytona penalties
FONTANA, Calif. – Add Phoenix Racing, Davis Motorsports, Rusty Wallace Racing and Richardson-Haas Motorsports to the list of teams that will be appealing penalties.
All of those teams were penalized for not having a tight oil reservoir tank cover, something that could allow air flow easier through the car, during qualifying Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway.
Teams were penalized 25 points but the crew chiefs were suspended for six weeks and fined $15,000.
The only team not appealing is Kevin Harvick Inc., whose No. 77 team is running only six or seven races this year.
Phoenix Racing crew chief Newt Moore had just joined the team as crew chief three days before qualifying, where the violation was found.
Moore has taken over as interim crew chief as John Wolfe deals with a personal issue.
“I was filling in and didn’t know anything about it,” Moore said Saturday. “The whole lid fell off. It wasn’t like we left it loose to bleed air. That is stuff we did in 1990. We don’t do that anymore – nobody does.
“The guys that were caught with it were guys who were desperate for qualifying. We were in the race, so it doesn’t really make sense for us to do it. It’s my first week – I’m not going to do something stupid. It’s kind of a kick in the teeth from NASCAR because I’m smarter than that. If I’m going to bleed air in the car, there are a million other ways that they could never find to do it.”
Moore said he thought the six-week suspension was too severe.
“It’s terrible in the Nationwide deal,” he said. “It’s really going to hurt all the teams really bad. In the Cup Series, you’ve got backup crew chiefs and engineers that can run the show. … I was a race car driver for years. I’ve been on fire twice. [Driver] Johnny Sauter is one of my best friends. I’m not going to do anything that’s going to get him burned up just for us to go half-a-tenth [of a second] quicker.”
At Davis Motorsports, team owner Johnny Davis said he only has three full-time employees. He said the cap was found underneath the seat and was not designed to come off.
“We didn’t go down there to do that,” Davis said. “It was an accident. I can just hope that we can get some leniency.”
