NASCAR lifts suspensions of Joe Gibbs Racing crewmen

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Thursday, January 22, 2009

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CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR has reinstated Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Series crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff as well as five other team crewmen who were suspended indefinitely last August.

The NASCAR suspensions lasted 10 races. They were part of a penalty for attempting to limit the car’s throttle response during a horsepower test following the event at Michigan International Speedway.

“They’re done paying their price, they’ve been reinstated and they’re waiting to apply for their license,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Thursday during the Sprint Media Tour. “They’re good.”

JGR President J.D. Gibbs said Tuesday that all of those who were reinstated would receive a team-imposed one-race suspension as an additional penalty.

That means that Rogers and Ratcliff will join their teams for the second race of the season at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway. Ratcliff will be the crew chief for championship contender Kyle Busch while Rogers will be the crew chief for a car that will have Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Coleman behind the wheel.

In other suspension news, two Red Bull Racing crewmen, including former crew chief Kevin Hamlin, will miss the first two races of the year as part of an indefinite suspension issued late last year over sheet-metal thickness, Pemberton said. Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad missed the final four races of 2008, so their total suspension will be six races apiece.