Commission denies DEI appeal; Truex Jr. loses crew chief, car chief

SCENE ON THE CIRCUIT

As expected, the National Stock Car Racing Commission denied the July 21 appeal of Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s No. 1 team concerning penalties handed down during the July race weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The team and driver Martin Truex Jr. were docked 150 points, crew chief Kevin Manion was fined $100,000 and suspended six races and car chief Gary Putnam was suspended for six races.

NASCAR found in prequalifying inspection that Truex’s No. 1 did not fit roof templates. NASCAR confiscated the car, and the penalties were levied the week after the race. Manion and Putnam worked during the appeal, but their six-race suspensions began during the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They will not return until the Sept. 5 race at Richmond.

According to the commission statement, DEI did not contest the violations but argued the penalties were too severe for the infractions. DEI said that despite strict quality control, the team did not know why the roof did not fit the templates. DEI also argued the infractions were minor, not deliberate, and wind-tunnel tests proved a lowered roof was a disadvantage.
 
The three-person commission – Russell Hackett, Jack Housby and chairman George Silbermann – ruled the infractions were “clear-cut” and that the “roof was low across a broad area.”

Mike Greci took over as crew chief for Manion. Greci and Truex have a long history together, dating to Truex’s family-owned team that he drove for when he started his NASCAR career in the then-Busch North Series.
 
The penalty severely hurt Truex’s chances to make the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup. He left Indianapolis 216 points behind the final Chase cutoff spot with six races left until the field is set.
 
“We’ll accept the penalty and move on, but we definitely feel like we’ve got something to prove,” Truex said. “I can just tell that this whole deal has lit a fire under everybody, and we’re really anxious to prove that we can win and make a run at the Chase.”

AMS President Wants Open Tests
 
Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark believes allowing NASCAR’s Sprint Cup teams to test at Cup-sanctioned tracks would “make the racing better” while helping midlevel teams become more competitive.
 
“I know NASCAR is looking at this and they’ve had conversations with some teams, but I wanted to take the time to encourage them to take a hard look ...,” Clark said. “I think ... it’s going to make the racing better, and it’s certainly going to help the teams develop their new car setups for the track they will be racing on. I’m simply encouraging NASCAR to do this for the benefit of the teams, tracks and the fans who attend the events.”
 
Since 2005, NASCAR has curtailed testing at Cup-sanctioned tracks, and as a result, teams have turned to tracks not on the Cup schedule to fine-tune their cars. Instead of holding down costs, as NASCAR had envisioned, the move has increased spending by most teams.
 
“Kyle [Busch] talked about being in Iowa, then Milwaukee and somewhere else after [that],” Clark said. “It makes sense to me that, since teams are going to test anyway, they be allowed to test on Sprint Cup tracks where they will be racing.”

NASCAR officials are currently studying the 2009 testing policy and have said they are open to allowing teams to return to Cup tracks for testing.

“I know there have been a lot of different scenarios floated out there ... taking open tests away, just allowing teams a certain number of test days where they can run on the actual tire they would be racing,” Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear, said July 25. “We’re fine with that, we just want to make sure we understand what people need so that we can make the right tires to accommodate their test program. And we’re going to need some lead time to make sure we do that, so that we make the right number of tires for testing and the right number for the race.

“That will probably be one of the biggest challenges, working out the logistics in timing and working out something that’s fair to the teams.”

ESPN: Wallace Can Own Cup Team
 
Rusty Wallace can be a Sprint Cup owner if he wants to, thanks to an assist from Brad Daugherty.
 
Daugherty, who works in the ABC/ESPN studio alongside Wallace, recently bought into the JTG Racing team. The organization plans to add a full-time Cup team to its operation for 2009, and Daugherty needed a series of approvals from various ESPN executives in order to keep his job as a broadcaster.
 
That meant Wallace, whose contract with the network did not allow him to own a Cup team, had that restriction lifted.
 
“That was something that just came out of the clear blue,” Wallace said July 26. “They called me last week.”
 
But now that he has permission, Wallace isn’t really sure what to do with it. He currently fields two cars in the Nationwide Series. The No. 64 (mostly driven by David Stremme) is ninth in owner points while the No. 66 (Steve Wallace) is 18th in owner points.
 
“I’ve had such a hell of a time keeping the Nationwide cars funded and going,” Wallace said. “If the right opportunity came up, I would definitely entertain being a car owner in Cup.
 
“When I drove into Indy today, and I saw all my buddies and everybody in there, I feel like I need to be back part of this. … But as far as me flipping all of my own money and me doing all the work starting a team and me trying to find all the sponsors – man, it’s just too tough right now.”
 
In addition to Daugherty, another member of ESPN’s crew – Ray Evernham, who does some studio work during the week – also is a Cup team owner.
 
ESPN Vice President Rich Feinberg said July 24 there will be no restrictions on announcers who also own parts of race teams.
 
“My advice to Brad and the gang is the same as it is to Rusty and Ray and anybody else who has an interest beyond broadcasting,” Feinberg said. “And it’s a very simple concept:  When you put on those headphones or sit in that pit studio and wire up that mic, you need to leave behind your intuitive response as an owner and let come out your intuitive response as a journalist and a broadcaster. And if there is a fuzzy area, then the recommendation is stand back.”

Labonte To Drive No. 10 Dodge
 
Terry Labonte will drive the No. 10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge in the Aug. 3 Sprint Cup race at Pocono. Patrick Carpentier, the regular driver of the car, is spending that weekend competing in the Nationwide Series race at Montreal and is not traveling between the two tracks. The two-time Cup champion Labonte, 51, has recently been filling in driving the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge. The two-time NASCAR Cup champion has 858 career starts and finished 30th at Pocono earlier this season, driving for Petty Enterprises.

• Mentioned Drivers:
• Martin Truex Jr.