Carl Long suspension reduced from 12 to eight weeks
NASCAR has reduced Sprint Cup driver Carl Long's suspension from 12 to eight weeks. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
NASCAR driver Carl Long’s suspension has been reduced from 12 weeks to eight weeks by NASCAR National Commissioner Charles Strang, but the $200,000 fine his crew chief was assessed for an illegal engine used during practice for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 15 has remained, Long said Thursday.
Long is still frustrated with the decision, the final one in his two appeals of the penalty. The first appeal got the suspension adjusted from covering all NASCAR series to just the Sprint Cup garage.
Long works in the shop at Front Row Motorsports and will be allowed back at the track for the Aug. 7-9 weekend at Watkins Glen.
If he wants to drive his own Carl Long Racing car, as he was doing on a periodic basis, he will have to pay at least a portion of the fine, Long said, because the team cannot return until that crew-chief fine is taken care of. Long’s wife, who is the team owner, and crew chief Charles Swing also were issued 12-week suspensions with the original penalty.
“I’m in no different shape now than I was the first day except I’m out about $1,500 in appeals and plane tickets,” said Long. “The four weeks they gave me back, at least that’s enough that the race teams I’m working for will be able to get a little more juice out of me.”
Long has raised more than $16,000 to pay his fine (with $5,000 coming from David Reutimann, he said) and is looking for a sponsor to pay his fine to allow him to go race – thinking that would generate enough publicity to make the sponsorship worthwhile.
“That’s just a thought I’ve got going on, but whether I can make that happen or not, I don’t know,” Long said. “That’s just wishing. The reality part is I don’t have the money to pay the fine.”
Long contends that he purchased the engine and had no knowledge it was too big (by 0.17 cubic inches) and that the penalty was excessive considering his effort is a part-time team.
