Big Carl Long Fine

[harvick#1]

Fines generally go into the points fund, not NASCAR's pocket.

I thought all fine money goes into a charity group (VJGC or a any other one)???

[Lee Roy]

I thought all fine money goes into a charity group (VJGC or a any other one)???

You are correct. They used to go into the Points Fund until 2008.

What happens to the money from the penalties?
Starting in 2008 all money collected from fines issued to drivers go to the NASCAR Foundation for its charitable initiatives, before the money collected from driver/crew member penalties are generally placed into the Drivers Points Fund awarded at the end of the season.

http://www.jayski.com/pages/penalties.htm

[Nem14]

So does that mean the fines are actually a charitable deduction?

[BobbyC]

After Petty's oversized engine in 1983, NASCAR decided to prevent this again by imposing a 12-week suspension for the involved parties (driver, owner, crew chief) of an oversized engine.

Long's penalty has been slightly reduced; this prohibits him only from the Sprint Cup paddock, but not lower-tier series. Front Row operates a Sprint Cup and Nationwide team, so he could simply be reassigned only to the NNS team crew, and get aroudn it.

NASCAR needs to seriously look at penalties for the engine builder too.

[Lee Roy]

So does that mean the fines are actually a charitable deduction?

Good question. I wonder if it would be considered a donation by the offender or by NASCAR?

[Mark in Oshawa]

...
NASCAR needs to seriously look at penalties for the engine builder too.

No Bobby, here is why: There is no evidence that the last guy to touch that engine was Ernie Elliot, who basically gave Long that motor when Ganassi went from Dodge to Chevy. We have no idea what was done to that motor after Long got it. There is no way of knowing and furthermore, it says in the NASCAR rules you present a car for inspection and you are responsible for all the parts and pieces, regardless of their origin.

Carl got screwed I think in the appeal, but the message is clear. Don't take a car through tech that isnt' legal. If you are not sure about something, don't take it to the track without clarification. Whatever happened in the past is the past. Since the COT, NASCAR has told everyone they are enforcing the rules with no thought to past practices. This is a brand new attitude and structure, and so far, they have been pretty consistent in that every penalty has been the same or worse than the previous one. The only question I have, when will they start executing crew chiefs? The penalties are getting to a pretty nasty level...