Questions about Bowyer's winning car

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Originally Posted by I am evil Homer

You honestly think being 1/16 of an inch shorter makes a performance difference?

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What's probably happened is that they have already exceeded the tolerance. Like when the pit road speed limit is 40 but they give you to 45, therefore 45.1 is busted with no exceptions.

For example:

The rule is probably written as "part X must be 6.5" with a tolerance of .5" so the effective range is 6.0 to 7.0".

If Nascar said they were too close last week they were running 6.05" or 6.95" so they need to move back towards the spec. The car this week was 5.99" or 7.01" so therefore they are penalized. My numbers are arbitrary, but the principle remains the same.

1/16" = .0625" so there's your 1/16"

There are some things that have no tolerance at all, such as engine size. Either you is or you ain't.

I think that they have certain tolerances for this new car (or not so new car now) that can't be deviated from.

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Originally Posted by Lee Roy

So you're sure that the only infraction came from damage from the on-track incident? You have documentation for that? Just because RCR makes this claim it doesn't make it so.

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We have to remember that this team was warned about the possible infraction at Richmond. Unfortunatly, NASCAR is not 'transparent' in their disclosures. They do not issue releases that say "XX team was warned about bumper hieght, due the the fact that XX team has a different way of mounting the body that may or may not be in the spirit of the rules." It's all done very quietly, which can look less than above board. Add to that the infamous 'caution for debris', and it all looks like a controlled product.

Even if you believe in NASCAR's ability to control their product, hell, even if you beleive in "The Call", the race teams still have to show up. Obviously, there was something afoot regarding this particular car, hence the warning at Richmond. The issue would be put to rest of NASCAR simply said "We told these guys on numerous occasions that the _______ was a problem and could result in sanctions." Instead, they handle it in a very Nixon-ian manner.

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Originally Posted by Alexamateo

The rule is probably written as "part X must be 6.5" with a tolerance of .5" so the effective range is 6.0 to 7.0".

If Nascar said they were too close last week they were running 6.05" or 6.95" so they need to move back towards the spec. The car this week was 5.99" or 7.01" so therefore they are penalized. My numbers are arbitrary, but the principle remains the same.

1/16" = .0625" so there's your 1/16"

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Well said!

Spare me the angst guys. If this were Jimmie Johnson everyone here would be talking about what a bunch of cheaters the #48 are.

Your selective outrage is more prevalent than your percieved notion of NASCAR's selective rules enforcement.

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Originally Posted by Lee Roy

Spare me the angst guys. If this were Jimmie Johnson everyone here would be talking about what a bunch of cheaters the #48 are.

Your selective outrage is more prevalent than your percieved notion of NASCAR's selective rules enforcement.

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Very true. NASCAR is not perfect, no racing sanctioning body is perfect. But I do think they make a real and honest effort to keep the stock cars "fair" within the boundaries they set up. I would definitely say it is a far-fetched conspiracy theory to think that NASCAR favors the 48 or the 11 over the 33, and thus they tried to find something to penalize the 33 with for winning the first chase race. I actually think this fine, etc. does a moderate detriment to the sport, as probably a lot of casual fans liked seeing a different driver leading a highly competitive chase. Now the Chase is a bit less exciting. So I give them credit for favoring "fairness" over "entertainment value" in this case.

I feel like if Nascar had their druthers, they wouldn't want to penalize Bowyer. It seems to me they have spent the last week promoting him as Nascar's Everyman in a plaid shirt and cowboy boots, the dirt tracker who made it to the big time. So I have to agree that Nascar is being fair in this case, even to their detriment.

Per NASCAR: "The No. 46 team was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1, 12-4-J, and 20-5.8.4.C (engine exhaust valves did not meet the minimum weight requirement) of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book. Driver Michael McDowell and team owner Dusty Whitney were each handed a loss of 50 points. Jeremy Lafaver, crew chief for the No. 46 has to pay a fine of $50,000 plus the same suspension and probation as the two members of the RCR team.


so why only 50 points for the 46 team????

the report has come out that the rear quarter panel was less than a 1/16 of an inch off, and that the corner panel had RACE DAMAGE, so does it make legal now for drivers to smash the rear panels now because that means all the cars will fail R&D and be a 150 point fine.

but how could a car pass pre-race inspection, and post race inspection and then still be penalized. sorry but if Nascar broke down every car ever week, every team will have something illegal with their car. Nascar will never ever make a motion that they are ever wrong though, and that has tuned off millions of fans

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Originally Posted by harvick#1

so why only 50 points for the 46 team????

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Different violation maybe?

add alittle more fire to the mix


NASCAR won't inspect more Chase cars after races: NASCAR has considered taking all 12 Chase For The Sprint Cup cars following each race for more thorough inspections, but hasn't seen widespread issues that would require such extensive follow-up, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Friday. NASCAR takes the race-winning car and at least one other car to its research and development center in North Carolina after every race to make sure the car and how the body sits on the frame meets NASCAR regulations. It was in that inspection at the research and the development center that it found the race-winning car of Clint Bowyer to be illegal on Wednesday, three days after he won the first Chase race at New Hampshire. The failure of his car has prompted talk that NASCAR should take more Chase cars, and possibly all 12, following each event in the Chase. "We've done several hundred cars, and if a team has an issue, problem or [is] headed in the wrong direction, we talk about it and they go fix the problem," Pemberton said prior to practice Friday at Dover International Speedway. "We haven't had anything [illegal] in almost two years and that was light sheet metal. We haven't really had a problem. & If someday it winds up being there, fine. But right now our processes work quite well. We feel like the majority of the garage has done things correctly. From time to time, we find things that are not out of the box but are to the zero-margin. It hasn't been an epidemic in any way shape or form." The equipment used to conduct the complicated frame inspections cannot easily be moved to the track and that's one of the reasons why it is done at the research center. The plates the cars sit on during the inspection weigh thousands pounds and all of the equipment would need to be recalibrated if moved off site, Pemberton said. He said there are no plans to try to do those inspections at the Chase-determining race at Richmond nor the season finale at Homestead.(Scene Daily)(9-24-2010)