 |
|
 Front Page
Fan Shop
Outlet
Tickets
Archives
Opinions
Contact
|
|
Click here: |
Front Page-» Intent is the difference between 29 and 5/48 infractions
Top Stories from the Cup Scene Daily Front Page
|
Intent is the difference between 29 and 5/48 infractions
NASCAR will look at the 29 car's qualifying violation in a different light than the infractions discovered on the 48 and 5 cars after Sunday's race because there was intent behind the actions of Kevin Harvick's team. There's no question in my mind that Jimmie Johnson's low measurement and Kyle Busch's high measurement weren't intentional. What the 29 team did The fuel cell holds 22 gallons of gas, and the car has to weigh 3,400 pounds. If you qualify with only four gallons as the 29 team did you can place roughly 125 pounds of lead ballast around the car to handle better for two laps of qualifying. When qualifying is over, you pull out the extra lead and fill up the car with fuel. It's something that teams have done for years. But this year, NASCAR said teams have to qualify with a full tank of fuel.
The 29 team plugged the overflow hose and filled it up, but they didn't plan on NASCAR opening the decklid after qualifying and seeing that the hose was still full of fuel. If they ran three laps, and it was still full, it appears that they didn't use any fuel at all. That was 4 1/2 miles and should have been a gallon of fuel. NASCAR started probing deeper and figured out that the overflow hose had been plugged. NASCAR wasn't very happy, and Berrier probably didn't do himself any good when he said the rule read the vent tube had to be full of fuel. That's like spitting at NASCAR. I think NASCAR will severely penalize the 29 team and crew chief Todd Berrier in particular because qualifying with a full load of fuel is part of the new impound procedure. NASCAR didn't impound cars at Las Vegas, but the sanctioning body is trying to establish consistency for the future when cars will be impounded at all Nextel Cup races, just as Busch cars and Craftsman Trucks are impounded now. When you impound cars, you qualify with a full load of fuel because NASCAR only allows teams to top off the tank with a small amount of fuel, depending on the size of the track. You wouldn't want to start the race with three or four gallons. As Darrell Waltrip pointed out, I was surprised that the Nextel Cup officials didn't make Harvick start with four gallons of fuel because NASCAR feels like the 29 team made a mockery of of this new weekend procedure. I'm quite confident that the 29 team will receive a substantial fine and lose what has become the standard 25 driver and owner points. But after suspending Shane Hmiel's Busch crew chief, Todd Lohse, for four races after an unintentional roof-flap infraction at Fontana, I think they're probably going to suspend Berrier for a minimum of four weeks. I'll be totally shocked if they don't. I have nothing against Berrier, but I'm just stating what I feel NASCAR probably will do not what they should do but what they probably will do as they try to establish consistent rulings. I'm sure Berrier and Richard Childress will appeal the penalty, but what are they appealing? It was obviously an intentional infraction. No intent with the 48 & 5 I'm confident that the 48 and 5 teams didn't do anything intentional, and when cars haven't met the height requirements in qualifying sessions and races, NASCAR hasn't taken away their positions. I don't look for NASCAR to suspend Alan Gustafson, Busch's crew chief, or Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. But NASCAR will probably fine them and take away 25 driver and owner points. NASCAR found two different things he 48 was low and the 5 was high. NASCAR measures the height of the car 10 inches back from the center of the windshield on the roof, and it has to be a minimum of 51 inches. Over the course of a 400- or 500-mile race, or three to four hours of racing, things settle and go down a little bit so teams are allowed a 1/4 inch of tolerance. They don't care if it's more than 51 inches. It just can't be lower than 50 3/4 inches, tolerance included. The 48 car was lower than 50 3/4 inches. The laws of physics say the lower the better so that's why NASCAR monitors a minimum and not a maximum. What happened? These cars run very soft springs in the front and a very aggressive shock setup. One of the springs may have yielded a little bit, losing a little height. The 5 car was at the opposite end of the spectrum. It was high, not on the roof, but on the quarter panels. NASCAR measures maximum height at the left and right rear quarter panels. They don't care about the minimum because the higher you can raise the car, the higher the rear spoiler gets in the air and the more rear downforce the car will make. It has to be 35 inches at the base of the left rear and 36 inches at the base of the right rear. There's also a 1/4 inch tolerance here so it could be 35 1/4 on the left rear or 36 1/4 on the right rear. The 5 car was raised higher. What happened to the 5 car? On many pit stops, teams adjust the wedge bolts in the rear window. If Kyle Busch was fighting a tight condition, Gustafson may have decided to take wedge out of the car by turning down on the right rear jackbolt which raises the rear of the car. If Gustafson was right on 35 and 36 before the race, and he put several rounds in the right rear, it probably made the quarter panel height too high.
|
2005 Nextel Cup Series Tickets
|
