Cars by Johnson, Gordon fail inspection
By MIKE HARRIS, AP Auto Racing Writer
June 22, 2007
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- The cars driven by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed initial inspection and won't be allowed to practice or qualify Friday for the Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway.
The No. 24 and No. 48 Chevrolets had modifications to the front fenders ``found to be outside NASCAR tolerances,'' NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. No further penalties or suspensions were announced.
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Poston said the teams may repair their cars in an effort to pass inspection. Since they are prohibited from qualifying, both cars would have to start from the rear of the 43-car field in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 if they do meet inspection standards.
This is the first road race for NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, a bigger, bulkier and reputedly safer car that has been in development for seven years. It has run in six races this season, all on ovals.
``It's important to know that this is a Car of Tomorrow penalty,'' Poston said. ``The inspection process and NASCAR's reaction to violations to the Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe. We're going to keep this car in check.
``It's important to know that all cars in the field are starting out equal and all have the same opportunity to win as the other.''
Asked why the cars could still be allowed to pass inspection and race, Poston said: ``That's been our practice in the past, that we've given teams an opportunity to repair cars that have failed inspection. And we'll do the same here.''
Poston said NASCAR would determine any further penalties assessed to the two Hendrick Motorsports teams after officials return to their Daytona Beach, Fla., headquarters following the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 100 points and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended six races after NASCAR discovered illegal brackets on the rear wing of the No. 8 COT Chevrolet last month at Darlington Raceway.
The Hendrick team's other two cars, the No. 5 of Kyle Busch and No. 25 of Casey Mears, passed initial inspection. They are built in a different shop at Hendrick Motorsports.
**GUESS HIS GOOD WEEK TURNED BAD
By MIKE HARRIS, AP Auto Racing Writer
June 22, 2007
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- The cars driven by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed initial inspection and won't be allowed to practice or qualify Friday for the Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway.
The No. 24 and No. 48 Chevrolets had modifications to the front fenders ``found to be outside NASCAR tolerances,'' NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. No further penalties or suspensions were announced.
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Poston said the teams may repair their cars in an effort to pass inspection. Since they are prohibited from qualifying, both cars would have to start from the rear of the 43-car field in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 if they do meet inspection standards.
This is the first road race for NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, a bigger, bulkier and reputedly safer car that has been in development for seven years. It has run in six races this season, all on ovals.
``It's important to know that this is a Car of Tomorrow penalty,'' Poston said. ``The inspection process and NASCAR's reaction to violations to the Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe. We're going to keep this car in check.
``It's important to know that all cars in the field are starting out equal and all have the same opportunity to win as the other.''
Asked why the cars could still be allowed to pass inspection and race, Poston said: ``That's been our practice in the past, that we've given teams an opportunity to repair cars that have failed inspection. And we'll do the same here.''
Poston said NASCAR would determine any further penalties assessed to the two Hendrick Motorsports teams after officials return to their Daytona Beach, Fla., headquarters following the race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 100 points and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was fined $100,000 and suspended six races after NASCAR discovered illegal brackets on the rear wing of the No. 8 COT Chevrolet last month at Darlington Raceway.
The Hendrick team's other two cars, the No. 5 of Kyle Busch and No. 25 of Casey Mears, passed initial inspection. They are built in a different shop at Hendrick Motorsports.
**GUESS HIS GOOD WEEK TURNED BAD
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Re: Gordon, Johnson fail inspections
Fri, June 22, 2007 - 5:46 PMI guess now that Jr. is a part of Hendrick he decided to share some of his tricks...
I kid! I kid! ;c) -
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Re: Gordon, Johnson fail inspections
Fri, June 22, 2007 - 7:37 PMThey better hope not. Junior cheats and still can't win a race this year.
See I can kid too! :P -
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Re: Gordon, Johnson fail inspections
Mon, June 25, 2007 - 4:42 AMStarted 41st and still finished 7th. That's pretty impressive., especially for a road course. I was only able to see the last half of the race, but I did see that he was once all the way up to 2nd!!
I don't think there was any intent here on Jeff's part. I don't believe he would risk his 1st place status and possible championship..........and I'm sure he had other things on his mind this week. He may not likely have even been around when they were fine tuning this car.
The forthcoming penalties will be interesting. ................ -
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Re: Gordon, Johnson fail inspections
Mon, June 25, 2007 - 10:12 AMI agree that Jeff was innocent in the violations. However, this is the 2nd time in as many years Johnson's crew chief has committed what NASCAR deems a major infraction. On another note I was glad to see Junior do well at Sonoma (road courses aren't his favorite) and even challenge for the lead for a bit. Congrats to Montoya too. For some reason I like him. He (like Earnhardt Sr.) races hard and makes no apologies for aggressive racing. Somewhat like Smoke (who I'm liking again) when he is not being outright dangerous (i.e. his running of Kenseth off the track at Daytona last year.
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