NASCAR news

[Garrett Duke]

I read the first two or three dozen comments under the story in that link - every single one implied that NASCAR is losing the plot and its audience. The one that really made me smile was the suggestion that the only thing worse than NASCAR's penalties was their new website .

I have read people's comments of the sort on other sites or articles and I do see where they are coming from and I assume you are agreeing with them, Hoss? As I said, I do see where they are coming from, but do also see NASCAR's side. So perhaps I am in the minority here...but if NASCAR lets Penske's deal slide or Kenseth's deal slide, then another team is just going to go up and try to do the same thing, but perhaps make it more big. They are going to keep pushing the rules just to try to up the competion. Also, you have to throw in the fact that these here cars that they are messing with is NASCAR's baby. They have worked hard the past few years to put this car together...so they are being over protective of it. Just as they were when the Gen5 or COT car came out. They are making a statement that you don't mess with it.

I do admit that they are a bit harsh on the whole Kenseth deal and perhaps they will lesson it on May 9 (I think) when Kenseth has his appeal.

And trust me, I feel for Kenseth, Logano, and Keselowski for being put in this position...and their fans. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were in the same boat, as they are in, when the COT car came out and a part of their cars where too big or too small (wasn't the engine though as Kenseth's was). They got fined, docked points, and crew cheifs suspended and fined. Same sort of thing. And trust me when I say I wasn't happy when it was Gordon AND Johnson in that position...it did seem unfair and harsh.

Well you read their opinions, Hoss...well, there was mine. Though I do agree...I do NOT like NASCAR's new web site. I guess it is OK if I am on Chrome, but anything else it just doesn't work or make sense.

[HossC]

I have read people's comments of the sort on other sites or articles and I do see where they are coming from and I assume you are agreeing with them, Hoss? As I said, I do see where they are coming from, but do also see NASCAR's side. So perhaps I am in the minority here...but if NASCAR lets Penske's deal slide or Kenseth's deal slide, then another team is just going to go up and try to do the same thing, but perhaps make it more big. They are going to keep pushing the rules just to try to up the competion ...

So that's what NASCAR are doing - trying to prevent competition - now it all makes sense .

You want my opinion? I think NASCAR have shot themselves in the foot over this one. I've had a really hard time just finding out exactly what Penske did wrong (most sources just list the obscure code numbers of the rules they're supposed to have broken). To me it looks like the Penske team thought they'd found a loophole or gray area in the rules and chanced their arm a little. NASCAR, wanting to assert their authority, have come down hard with a disproportionate penalty (my view and the view of the vast majority of posts I've read online). They've now put themselves in a no-win situation: if the penalty sticks, a lot of people will think they overreacted (as usual, conspiracy theories abound!); if the penalty get reduced, every future penalty will be open to question and challenge. All this while they're turning a blind eye to drivers physically attacking each other. I'm not denying that Penske broke the rules, or saying they shouldn't be punished, just that the penalty was too much. How about a simple rule: turn up with an illegal car and you don't get to race that weekend. That way it's all over and done with and people can move on to the next race. If a car is found to be illegal after the race, wipe any points scored that weekend.

Maybe you'll consider my views biased. In F1 it's usual for teams to innovate and constantly bring new parts to races. It's quite often the other teams that challenge the legality of new parts, and then it's up to the governing body to make a ruling. You have to remember that the illegal Penske cars didn't even race - it's not like they won a load of races before the infringements were discovered. However much you love NASCAR, you have to accept that they're not always right.

As far as the NASCAR website goes, I still find it much harder to navigate than the old one (even though it works fine in Firefox). One time when I visited last week there was only one lead story, but it still kept scrolling across the screen. Last year I could go to the homepage on race day and instantly see a weather report and any other late-breaking news along with a countdown to the start. There were clear links to the lap-by-lap feed and the leaderboard, and everything used less space so I could get more drivers/info on-screen at once. They're certainly not the only people who've ruined their website with an "improvement". Photobucket is now far less usable than it used to be, and they keep screwing it up in new ways. Failblog had a major makeover last year, and have now made subsequent changes to make it nearly as good as it used to be! We must congratulate Mufn for upgrading HNet without taking a step backwards.

[Garrett Duke]

So that's what NASCAR are doing - trying to prevent competition - now it all makes sense .

You want my opinion? I think NASCAR have shot themselves in the foot over this one. I've had a really hard time just finding out exactly what Penske did wrong (most sources just list the obscure code numbers of the rules they're supposed to have broken). To me it looks like the Penske team thought they'd found a loophole or gray area in the rules and chanced their arm a little. NASCAR, wanting to assert their authority, have come down hard with a disproportionate penalty (my view and the view of the vast majority of posts I've read online). They've now put themselves in a no-win situation: if the penalty sticks, a lot of people will think they overreacted (as usual, conspiracy theories abound!); if the penalty get reduced, every future penalty will be open to question and challenge. All this while they're turning a blind eye to drivers physically attacking each other. I'm not denying that Penske broke the rules, or saying they shouldn't be punished, just that the penalty was too much. How about a simple rule: turn up with an illegal car and you don't get to race that weekend. That way it's all over and done with and people can move on to the next race. If a car is found to be illegal after the race, wipe any points scored that weekend.

Maybe you'll consider my views biased. In F1 it's usual for teams to innovate and constantly bring new parts to races. It's quite often the other teams that challenge the legality of new parts, and then it's up to the governing body to make a ruling. You have to remember that the illegal Penske cars didn't even race - it's not like they won a load of races before the infringements were discovered. However much you love NASCAR, you have to accept that they're not always right.

As far as the NASCAR website goes, I still find it much harder to navigate than the old one (even though it works fine in Firefox). One time when I visited last week there was only one lead story, but it still kept scrolling across the screen. Last year I could go to the homepage on race day and instantly see a weather report and any other late-breaking news along with a countdown to the start. There were clear links to the lap-by-lap feed and the leaderboard, and everything used less space so I could get more drivers/info on-screen at once. They're certainly not the only people who've ruined their website with an "improvement". Photobucket is now far less usable than it used to be, and they keep screwing it up in new ways. Failblog had a major makeover last year, and have now made subsequent changes to make it nearly as good as it used to be! We must congratulate Mufn for upgrading HNet without taking a step backwards.

Well perhaps we can agree to disagree? I have already said that I do see fans' point of view on all of this...but just because I say I also see NASCAR's side of all of this, don't make me all wrong either.

And yes I do love NASCAR and perhaps I am biased in my opinion on all things NASCAR due to that...and just because I love NASCAR don't mean I think they are always right. No one is always right...I am not blind enough not to see that. Trust me...I can think of several instance that I didn't agree with NASCAR.

And yeah perhaps Keselowski and Logano didn't race with the illegal parts or whatever was wrong with their cars, but they would have if NASCAR didn't check their cars out. I wasn't going to say this since I haven't heard anything factual about it...but did read an article on Yahoo! Sports that it was rumored that before that race started (that they were found with the issue) that Keselowski was parked next to Jimmie Johnson in the garage. Joey Logano was parked next to Jeff Gordon in the garage. That Keselowski and Logano was listening into Johnson and Gordon's communication with their team and that Rick Hendrick took it to NASCAR. As I said, the article even said it was rumored so obviously there is no factual information to it...which is why I didn't say anything before. So perhaps there is more behind all of this than what NASCAR is willing to let out to the public...

And perhaps I am wrong to state this, but highly doubt NASCAR is trying to prevent competition...but where is the competition where a driver has parts on their car that is bigger or smaller than what they should be? Why make rules if you aren't going to give consequences to them if broken? You might as well as let the Cubs play with more players on the field than the Pirates...you get the point - it wouldn't be fair.

As I said we can agree to disagree...I may not be right, but don't really see where I am all wrong either. So with that said, perhaps it would be best if I leave my opinions out of my posts and just stick with the facts.

[HossC]

Why make rules if you aren't going to give consequences to them if broken? You might as well as let the Cubs play with more players on the field than the Pirates...you get the point - it wouldn't be fair.

It depends whether you think they were deliberately breaking the rules, or just testing the boundaries. Taken from the British TV show 'QI', here's three examples of people spotting loopholes in the rules and exploiting them. The rules were changed later, but at the time these were all legal:

1) In 1771 cricketer Thomas White invented a bat that was wider than the wicket. He noticed that there were no rules defining how big a bat could be, so he turned up with a huge one in a match between Chertsey and Hambledon which today would be Surrey v Hampshire. In 1774 a new law was brought in limiting the width of cricket bats to 4.5 inches.

2) Other sportsmen have also exploited the rules. One was American footballer Lester Hayes, who played for the Oakland Raiders. He was defensive player of the year during the late 1970s, but this was due to the fact he covered his hands and gloves in an adhesive called Stickum. Hayes said: "Without Stickum I couldn't catch a cold in Antarctica."

3) A further example of actual sporting cheating with regards to exploiting the rules came from the 1951 St Louis Browns baseball team, who brought in a 3'7" tall player called Eddie Gaedel out to bat. He crouched over the plate, and thus the strike zone the pitcher had to hit was one-and-a-half inches high. The pitcher could not get anywhere near it so he pitched four balls, after which he walked to first base and was subbed.

As I said previously, I'm used to F1 where they have very well defined rules, but also very clever designers who try to read between the lines.

Do you think the punishment is right, or should it increased/decreased?

So with that said, perhaps it would be best if I leave my opinions out of my posts and just stick with the facts.

Just because I'm always right, I don't want to discourage you from posting your opinions .

[Garrett Duke]

Well do I dare to reopen this can of worms? Well it is NASCAR news and it is my job to report...so agree or disagree with it. Here it is.

On April 13 both Penske cars (Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski) were found with their rear housing being wrong before the race and got hit with NASCAR's penalty. Last week they appealed it and lost, so today they took it to the last step...took it to NASCAR's chief appellate officer; John Middlebrook.

Middlebrook has reduced both crew chiefs suspension from six races to two races. Logano and Keselowski has been docked with 25 driver championship points and their crew chiefs has been fined $100,000 as was stated before. The article I read was kinda confusing...but perhaps it is just me . All I really got out of it that the only thing that really got reduced was the amount of races the crew chiefs were suspended for.

Matt Kenseth will be appealing his penalty of the faulty engine from a couple of weeks ago tomorrow...

And NASCAR has said they will not be fining Ryan Newman for his post race comments he had made after Talladega on Sunday. Newman was frustrated after Kurt Busch's car landed on his hood...and used bad language to display his displeasure at NASCAR for being able to make advances in the car safety wise, and yet not keep it on the track. (This wasn't the first big wreck he has been involved in at Talladega). He was also upset that NASCAR had decided to go ahead with the race after the three hour rain delay...

Will let you know how Kenseth's appeal goes tomorrow...if he doesn't like what he gets, he too will be able to take it to Middlebrook.

[HossC]

I think that the reduced penalties are more appropriate, although some of the comments I've read seem to question whether the two race suspension should include the All-Star race. What do you think, Garrett? It's interesting that the comments section of NASCAR's website still isn't working.

While I was on NASCAR.com earlier, I spotted the front page story Space age for the race age. The story is about NASCAR using carbon fiber for the hoods and deck lids on their new cars as if it's some kind of new wonder material. The "Space Age" is generally acknowledged to have started in 1957, and carbon fiber came along a year later. The first F1 car to have a chassis made from carbon fiber was in 1981. Well done NASCAR - your new cars are only about 30 years behind cutting edge technology .

[Garrett Duke]

Sorry Hoss but I can't help but to pick up your sarcastic tone in your voice towards NASCAR...

As for the suspensions...I don't know what to think about whether or not it should include the All Star race or if it should really matter. It isn't a point race. All it really is for the fame and the money.

Talking about suspensions and so forth...Joe Gibbs and Matt Kenseth has had their appeal today (to appeal the penalties Kenseth had received when the rods in his engine were too small a couple races back) and well the three men appeal panel must have been in a generous spirit today. Kenseth has gotten his fifty championship points penalty down to twelve. His crew chief is now suspended only for one race, but his fine still stands as is. Gibbs penalties that he faced were waived entirely.

So now instead of being eleventh in points, Kenseth is now fourth in points.

Gibbs and Kenseth said they will not take the appeal any farther...which I wouldn't see why they would.

[HossC]

Sarcastic, me .

If NASCAR had published an article about their new car with the differences highlighted, then fair enough. It was the way they made their front page story look like some major breakthrough that amused me.

With regards to the Kenseth decision, that sounds like a fairer punishment. I wish NASCAR could get it right in the first place instead of dragging in on for two or three weeks after the event. I wonder if the engine supplier will pick up the fines after they apologized for supplying the underweight rod. BTW. Kenseth will now receive credit for the win at Kansas toward eligibility for a wild-card position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

[Garrett Duke]

Well y'all, you remember over a month ago when reigning 2012 NASCAR champ, Brad Keselowski (with his team mate Joey Logano) was found with something wrong with their rear end housing? They got hit pretty hard at first before they appealed it and then went to the final step in the appeal process where Middlebrook reduced the penalty by suspending their crew chiefs for two races...

Well today was the first race back for both Logano's and Keselowski's to return to the track and well...get this...

I am getting word that Brad Keslowski's number two car failed post race inspection. The front of his car was too low...now his car will be shipped to NASCAR's Research & Development Center for further inspection.

Will keep you all updated with this as more info comes out...though it doesn't look good for Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe who is already on probation for his earlier penalty...

[HossC]

I've just read a couple of articles which speculate that Brad Keselowski may just get a six point penalty as that's what Martin Truex Jr got for being too low at Texas. The previous penalty would be irrelevant because it's a different infraction. It would drop Brad from 8th to 10th, just a few points ahead of Jeff Gordon.

[Garrett Duke]

I've just read a couple of articles which speculate that Brad Keselowski may just get a six point penalty as that's what Martin Truex Jr got for being too low at Texas. The previous penalty would be irrelevant because it's a different infraction. It would drop Brad from 8th to 10th, just a few points ahead of Jeff Gordon.

I agree with the Keselowski deal getting a few points taken away like Truex Jr...just don't know what they would do with his crew chief since he is already on probation. . . let y'all know what is said and done about it.

[HossC]

Well it looks like Brad got away with a six point penalty as predicted. NASCAR also fined crew chief Paul Wolfe $25,000. Penske Racing said Brad's car "experienced a part failure during Sunday's Dover race (that) resulted in the car's front end being too low when presented for postrace inspection." They do not plan to appeal the penalties.

Full story here.

[HossC]

I was just looking to see if the starting line-up for Sunday's race at Sonoma had been decided when I came across an article saying that NASCAR are changing the qualifying format for Sonoma and Watkins Glen (the two road courses) to give a better show for the fans. Instead of single-car qualifying, they'll be be doing group qualifying:

“Cars will be assigned to one of five or six groups based on practice speeds, slowest to fastest. Within those groups, cars will be separated fastest to slowest and released at intervals. Each group will have a window in which cars can complete their qualifying each likely receiving three laps at full speed. A car’s fastest lap will count and the field will be set based upon overall qualifying speeds. The process has been used previously for NASCAR Nationwide Series road course qualifications.â€

The full article I read is here.

[RogerDuke]

Hmmm, very interesting.

Okay Garrett, let's hear your opinion on this.

(Garrett's not shy about giving an opinion on things like this....LOL)

[HossC]

You can see the qualifying groups here. Qualifying takes place at 2 PM ET today (Saturday).

I've just read that Jaques Villeneuve is taking part this weekend. I saw him interviewed at the Canadian GP two weeks ago, but he didn't mention it - the circuit in Montreal is named after his father. Danica still seems to have a grudge against him. I know he can be a controversial and outspoken figure at times (the British F1 reporters sometimes bump into him at races that he's covering for other broadcasters), but you don't get to be F1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner without being a good driver. You can see the story here:

Danica, Bowyer expect respect from Villeneuve

One of the commenters said "no one likes him because his name is hard to pronounce lol". His surname only has two syllables, the same as Patrick and Bowyer, so I can only conclude that the commenter is just ignorant.

[HossC]

It looks like most of the pre-race coverage of tomorrow's race in Kentucky has centered on Kyle Petty's comments about Danica Patrick. In an interview with SPEED, Petty said “I don’t have a problem with her being a marketing machine -- more power to her.â€, but he went on to say “ … Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs. She can go fast, but she can’t race. I think she’s come a long way, but she’s still not a race car driver. And I don’t think she’s ever going to be a race car driver.â€

You can see the original story here. Danica's response is here. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has come out in support of Danica - you can read his view here.

[Garrett Duke]

Well where as most people have the Fourth of July off...the boys at NASCAR were in their cars for the first practice for the Daytona race that is Saturday night. And NASCAR has been busy confiscating roof flaps of 31 cars...16 of those cars are from the Sprint Cup, while I assume the rest of the cars are from the Nationwide Series. (The 31 roof flaps had failed inspection...)

The roof flaps are those parts of the car's roof that flies open when the car spins out or gets in a wreck. It helps to keep the cars on the track.

NASCAR is holding the 31 roof flats for inspection...with possible penalties being handed out next week.

Sprint Cup drivers that was stopped with their roof flaps that had failed inspection was:

All three Joe Gibbs Cars...Matt Kenseth (who won last week), Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin

All three Rousch Fenway cars...Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

All three Michael Waltrp Racing cars...Martin Truex Jr. , Clint Bowyer, and Michael Waltrip

Both Penske drivers...Brad Keselowski (who won the championship last year) and Joey Logano

Both Richard Petty cars...Aric Almirola and Marcos Ambrose

Jamie McMurray

Casey Mears

Trevor Bayne

All drivers had to install new roof flaps before taking the track for practices today.

16 Sprint Cup cars fail inspection for their roof flaps

[Garrett Duke]

Just to update y'all on the roof flaps...NASCAR has decided NOT to penalize any of the drivers for the manipulated roof flats.

Y'all know how much I love NASCAR, but really wish they would be consistant with their penalties and what not...

[HossC]

Just to update y'all on the roof flaps...NASCAR has decided NOT to penalize any of the drivers for the manipulated roof flats.

Thanks for the update - I'd forgotten the possibility of penalties was hanging over all those drivers.

Y'all know how much I love NASCAR, but really wish they would be consistant with their penalties and what not...

But it wouldn't be NASCAR if they were consistent with their penalties. What else do you want, right turns?

[Garrett Duke]

Thanks for the update - I'd forgotten the possibility of penalties was hanging over all those drivers.

But it wouldn't be NASCAR if they were consistent with their penalties. What else do you want, right turns?

How can you forget 31 drivers getting caught manipulating roof flaps? LOL.

Yeah, I spose consistancy is a little too much to ask for with NASCAR...it would just be nice is all.

[RogerDuke]

I can't fault anyone for being inconsistent or I'd be a hypocrite.

I mean, one day I think Miz Tisdale is the prettiest girl in Hazzard County and the next day I think it's Swamp Molly. The day after that I think it's Cousin Alice and the next day I favor Grannie Annie. I just can't make up my mind.

Now if my wife lived in Hazzard County she'd be the clear choice.

[Garrett Duke]

I can't fault anyone for being inconsistent or I'd be a hypocrite.

I mean, one day I think Miz Tisdale is the prettiest girl in Hazzard County and the next day I think it's Swamp Molly. The day after that I think it's Cousin Alice and the next day I favor Grannie Annie. I just can't make up my mind.

Now if my wife lived in Hazzard County she'd be the clear choice.

LOL Roger...guess I shouldn't either. But it is frustrating that they penalize some drivers, but not others. Or they don't penalize someone and later on penalize someone for the same thing or something like it. What goes for one driver, should go for the others. End of story.

Well, this isn't really anything news worthy, but there is no race this upcoming weekend and y'all know I like talking NASCAR so...

I guess Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman has had words about each other since Sunday's race. Sunday Ryan Newman wrecked Kyle Busch's brother, Kurt Busch, after Kurt led the most laps. After the race an race reporter asked Kyle a question and within the answer Kyle Busch called Ryan Newman an ugly ogre and a stupid idiot and glad he will be without a ride next year. I guess Ryan Newman got into the rear of Kyle Busch at one point or something like that that had him upset...

Ryan Newman answered to Kyle Busch on Monday saying he would like to rearrange his face, but if he did that he would probably fix it. Gave Kyle credit for being a "heck of a talent" behind the wheel, but not very bright.

Kyle Busch yesterday put an apology out on Twitter yesterday saying he let his emotions get the best of him and he shouldn't have wished Newman out of a job.

A lot of talk on Facebook about this...yeah it wasn't very nice of Kyle Busch to say that about Ryan Newman, but can't say Ryan Newman was being all that nice either. Someone on FB even asked if people thought Busch should get penalized for his comments...my opinion, no. It wasn't very nice, but words are words. Especially in the heat of the moment like that. Emotions are bound to get the best of them from time to time...whatever happened to boys have at it? I'd rather see this than to see them going after each other on the track.

And for what it is worth...Kyle Busch has stepped up and apologize for handling it the way he did. Which only shows just how much he has matured over the past few years.

Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman

As I said, not very newsworthy, but it is something to talk about.

[Garrett Duke]

Tony Stewart was involved in a Sprint car accident that has sent a young female driver to the hospital . . . Tony Stewart took the blame as the two cars got together as he tried to pass her during a restart. 19 year old Alysha Ruggles is still in the hospital with a fracture in her back.

Tony Stewart in Sprint accident. One injured in hospital

My thoughts and prayers are with them both.

[RogerDuke]

My thoughts and prayers are with them both.

Mine too.

[Garrett Duke]

Well Sunday's race at Indianapolis will mark another and the last change in television coverage for the 2013 season. The season had started on FOX before going to TNT in June. Starting Sunday and throughout the rest of the season, the NASCAR Sprint Cup races will be on ESPN...except for two races that will be on ABC.

Well starting in 2015 the races will be held on two networking channels. FOX and NBC. NBC has just bought out TNT and ESPN for their races and will now air the last twenty races, the post race banquet, and any hall of fame ceremonies. Along with seventeen or so Nationwide Series races...

I guess for the Sprint Cup Series...seven of the twenty races will be on the normal NBC channel while the rest will be on NBCSN...which I am unsure if I have or not. Which has me nervous...if I don't have it, I am going to be one MAD NASCAR fan.

Personally I'd rather it stay on FOX...but as long as I will be able to watch the races I will be happy. NASCAR use to be on NBC for a few races in the Chase and can't remember being all that impressed with the station and it's announcers...but I guess I will have to be happy with what I get. As long as I have that other channel, that is.

NBC has signed a ten year contract with this...

NASCAR on NBC