Big Carl Long Fine

[youtellme]

Who the heck is Carl Long anyway???

NASCAR hands down suspension, record fine

Buzz up!10 votes PrintCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—NASCAR has suspended driver Carl Long for the next 12 Sprint Cup races and fined crew chief Charles Swing $200,000, the largest penalty in the sport’s history.

Swing also was suspended until Aug. 18 for using an engine that was too big for NASCAR’s specifications last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Long was docked a NASCAR-record 200 points. Additionally, Swing and Long were placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Car owner Danielle Long, Carl’s wife, also was suspended 12 races, docked 200 owner points and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

The record fine exceeds the $150,000 Robby Gordon’s crew chief, Frank Kerr, received in March 2008. Several drivers and owners have been docked 100 points in recent years.

Long has made just 23 career Cup starts, and has not appeared in a points-paying Cup race since 2006.

He finished last in the 35-car field in a qualifying event for Saturday night’s All-Star race, dropping out after three laps because of an engine problem.

Long, who also failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500, first had engine trouble during practice last Friday. The team switched engines, and under NASCAR rules, the sanctioning body examined the bad engine.

NASCAR discovered an issue and sent the engine to the Research & Development Center for more tests, which determined the engine exceeded maximum cubic inch displacement specifications.

[harvick#1]

I'll say it once and I'll say it again.

Nascar loves punishing the little guys but gives a slap of the wrist to the Gibbs, Hendricks, Roush's, etc...

what a joke

[RaceFanStan]

Carl Long is an independent owner/driver who races on a limited schedule.
(He is usually unsponsored.)
Long attempts a few Cup races a year but is usually a DNQ.
Carl Long operates on a very low budget, a $200,000 fine will likely shut him down.

[youtellme]

I did a little checking as he just puts a buzz in my mind..
HE IS THE ONE who DW bought his car for a ride so he could be in the field.
Darlington or maybe a big track? either way he made more money on that deal than he as made in racing,

Knew it was something he was noted for.

[Lee Roy]

I remember NASCAR suspending Junior Johnson's team (when Geoff Bodine was driving for him) for 4 races (don't recall the fine) for having too large of an engine in the Winston.

[Sparky1329]

Carl made it for 3 laps before his engine blew in the Showdown. He got $5,000 for participating. I don't disagree with the suspension but a $200,000.00 fine seems like overkill to me.

[Lee Roy]

Carl made it for 3 laps before his engine blew in the Showdown. He got $5,000 for participating. I don't disagree with the suspension but a $200,000.00 fine seems like overkill to me.

Me too.

[Wade91]

if anyone isn't sure who Carl Long is, you will probably remember his car flipping over at rockingham in 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ4LEUmfSp0

i really dont see the point in suuch a penalty

[Lee Roy]

I just wonder where Long got the engine from? Did he build it himself (which I doubt), or did it come from a commercial source somewhere or a team with engine building capability?

[Jonesi]

There's more on Jayski about it now. Bought the engine from a builder, had no idea it was 358.17.
(Is 0.17 too much, even an overbore? Seems more like someone honed a tired engine block too much.) To put this in perspective. A Cup engine makes about 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 HP per cubic inch. So the over size added 1/2 horse power, maybe? You can get a biger improvement by putting in a new air filter.
To look at it from the other side; If you're buying engines from someone else, you sure should check the engines yourself to make sure they're legal. I think an accurate tool is only about ~$50.
So he probably deserves the $ "dumb jerk" penalty, not the $$$ "cheating b******" penalty.