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Truex can kiss the Chase goodbye
Jul
6
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Martin Truex Jr.’s backup car finished 17th in the Coke Zero 400, but it was his primary car loaded up in a NASCAR hauler that has virtually ended his shot at making the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Truex’s team faces a likely penalty of 100 or 150 points for presenting a car with an illegal roofline for inspection at Daytona International Speedway. So instead of being 14th in points and sitting just 88 out of 12th with eight races remaining until the cutoff, Truex will be either 17th and 188 points out or 18th and 238 points behind.
You can’t just assume that Truex will get the same 150-point penalty that was levied on the Haas CNC Racing teams. As Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby points out: “The 66 and the 70 [of Haas CNC] had devices on the car that gave the team the ability to change the car. The 1 car is much simpler than that. It was just built to where it didn’t fit the templates.”
Whether that means 100 points and only a suspended crew chief instead of 150 points and/or the suspension of both the crew chief and car chief (as happened to Haas CNC) remains to be seen.
But to make up 188 points and leap into 12th – with the standings the way they are as of now, he would have to jump over Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, David Ragan, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart in the standings – is extremely tough at best.
This can’t help Dale Earnhardt Inc. in its quest to keep Truex as one of its drivers. Granted, the way the other DEI cars performed in qualifying shows that the company can produce fast cars, but this will be a most sour taste in the mouth of Truex for a long time.
If it was an honest mistake, how does that happen? Knowing the consequences, how can a car be built at the shop and fit the templates (as DEI claims) and not then fit at the track? It would seem that a team would spare no expense at making sure it has the most accurate templates at the shop.
If it wasn’t an honest mistake and the guys were trying to cheat, why would they be doing so? If you’re going to cheat to try to get in the race, do it when you need a Hail Mary, not when you’re within 100 points of making the Chase.
There was a time when people laughed at NASCAR’s 25-point and 50-point penalties as almost meaningless. But the harshness of the penalties today shows that NASCAR is serious about its rules and serious about punishment.
That’s a good thing. It should keep problems like this one from happening.
It didn’t for DEI, though, and a driver that the organization had proclaimed as being a championship contender probably won’t get a chance to even contend for the championship over the last 10 races.
Truex’s team faces a likely penalty of 100 or 150 points for presenting a car with an illegal roofline for inspection at Daytona International Speedway. So instead of being 14th in points and sitting just 88 out of 12th with eight races remaining until the cutoff, Truex will be either 17th and 188 points out or 18th and 238 points behind.
You can’t just assume that Truex will get the same 150-point penalty that was levied on the Haas CNC Racing teams. As Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby points out: “The 66 and the 70 [of Haas CNC] had devices on the car that gave the team the ability to change the car. The 1 car is much simpler than that. It was just built to where it didn’t fit the templates.”
Whether that means 100 points and only a suspended crew chief instead of 150 points and/or the suspension of both the crew chief and car chief (as happened to Haas CNC) remains to be seen.
But to make up 188 points and leap into 12th – with the standings the way they are as of now, he would have to jump over Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, David Ragan, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart in the standings – is extremely tough at best.
This can’t help Dale Earnhardt Inc. in its quest to keep Truex as one of its drivers. Granted, the way the other DEI cars performed in qualifying shows that the company can produce fast cars, but this will be a most sour taste in the mouth of Truex for a long time.
If it was an honest mistake, how does that happen? Knowing the consequences, how can a car be built at the shop and fit the templates (as DEI claims) and not then fit at the track? It would seem that a team would spare no expense at making sure it has the most accurate templates at the shop.
If it wasn’t an honest mistake and the guys were trying to cheat, why would they be doing so? If you’re going to cheat to try to get in the race, do it when you need a Hail Mary, not when you’re within 100 points of making the Chase.
There was a time when people laughed at NASCAR’s 25-point and 50-point penalties as almost meaningless. But the harshness of the penalties today shows that NASCAR is serious about its rules and serious about punishment.
That’s a good thing. It should keep problems like this one from happening.
It didn’t for DEI, though, and a driver that the organization had proclaimed as being a championship contender probably won’t get a chance to even contend for the championship over the last 10 races.
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