Carl Long says he's disappointed with ruling by appeals board
Owner/driver Carl Long says he lost his appeal of recent NASCAR penalties. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
Carl Long says he is disappointed with the ruling of a NASCAR appeals board that limited his recent 12-week suspension to the Sprint Cup garage, but kept the $200,000 fine for an engine that was deemed too large during May 15 practice for the Sprint All-Star Race.
Long, who works as a mechanic and spotter for Front Row Motorsports, said he was unsure if he would go through the final appeals process to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner Charles Strang.
Long’s engine blew during practice and since he changed engines, NASCAR officials took the original. After inspection, officials deemed that engine was 0.17 cubic inches beyond the 358-cubic inch limit.
The part-time driver/owner was suspended for 12 weeks and docked 200 points and his crew chief, Charles Swing, was fined $200,000. It is the largest fine in NASCAR history.
On weekends when he’s not racing, Long typically is in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide garages working for Front Row.
“I work on a Sprint Cup team and my job is running back and forth,” Long said in a phone interview with SceneDaily.com Tuesday. “They might be trying to give me a Band-Aid to help me but it doesn’t. … How do you go up and spot for your Nationwide car and then you’ve got to find somebody else to take over for you? It still knocks me out of a job.”
Long had bought the engine from a reputable engine builder and was told that the heat generated when the engine blew up possibly could have caused the change in the size.
The next Sprint Cup race Long had planned to compete in was Bristol in August, but he will be under suspension.
“I still love the sport, I still love to race and love to be part of it, but it gave me a real, real sour taste in my mouth,” Long said. “I don’t think it’s fair at all.”
Appeals board chairman George Silbermann was joined by John Capels and Jack Housby on the appeals panel.
“[Long’s] testimony came across as genuine and heartfelt,” the panel wrote in its statement. “While it is tempting to consider penalties that this driver and team can more readily bear, the sport would not be well served by having a sliding scale of penalties calibrated to a given team or member’s resources. Penalties of this magnitude for this type of infraction are warranted in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.”
