J Johnson Starting Early

[Buford445]

Trying to Cheat That is

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/7586777/daytona-500-nascar-says-jimmie-johnson-car-was-modified

Jimmie Johnson's car said modified
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By David Newton
ESPN.com
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Crew chief Chad Knaus and other members of five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 team face possible suspensions after NASCAR said it found modifications on the rear quarter panel of Johnson's No. 48 car.

The C-posts -- pillars that come down from the roof to the quarter panel -- were confiscated by NASCAR on Friday after going through an initial inspection for the 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said the changes were a major violation of NASCAR's policy banning alterations to the series' template.

"Suspensions are not out of the realm of possibility," Darby said.

But Darby also said that it's unlikely team members will be banned from the race, because the apparent violation was found so early.

"The team will be allowed to fix the car,'' Darby said.

Darby said penalties could come as early as next week, but NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp said sanctions are unlikely until after the February 26 race.

Team officials said Knaus was not available for comment.

"A helluva way to start the 2012 season,'' said Ken Howes, Hendrick Motorsports' vice president for competition. "Obviously, it failed inspection. NASCAR directed us on how they wanted it fixed, and we're doing that.

"We'll put it back together and run it through inspection again.''

Howes said he expects the rebuilt car will be ready for practice on Saturday and qualifying on Sunday.

This is not the first time Knaus and the No. 48 team have faced sanctions before the "Great American Race.'' In 2006, Knaus was suspended for four races and fined $25,000 when NASCAR discovered a device that pushed the rear window out more than three-quarters of an inch to create a competitive advantage.

Knaus sat out the 500 and Johnson won with Darian Grubb as his interim crew chief.

Asked if this was an intentional attempt by the No. 48 team to bend the rules, Howes said, "That's a difficult way to put it. You work within the templates the best way you think. Obviously, you're trying to do a better job than the next guy.''

"NASCAR said it wasn't right, so it's not right,'' Howes added. "We don't have an argument with that.''

Howes said manipulating the C-post creates an aerodynamic advantage, and that individual teams are allowed to work in that area. The other three Hendrick Motorsports cars did not fail inspection.

"It's an area you will go as far as you can, because it will affect the performance of the car,'' Howes said. "That's the nature of this kind of racing, especially at Daytona. That's an area teams will work. Obviously, the 48 team went too far.''

[kenz]

I don't believe it was an honest mistake. Especially when it was mentioned that it was not in the qualifier car, but the one intended for the actual 500 race.  So yes, intentional cheating I say. I know every team try's to stretch the rules as much as they can, nature of the sport I guess. But Mr. Knaus seems to think that they will have a little more lee way than the others because they are more 'valuable' to nascar ( ie. money). The car of tomorrow was supposed to make the cars uniform across the board. No tweaking aloud. This is a major infraction of the rules to me, and the 48 team should be suspended for the race. But as Nascar mentioned, though being a major rule violation, since they haven't actually qualified the car, if the fix it, we will forget it. Since they are a fan favorite and bring in the cash, there is no way #48 will not miss the race.

One of many reasons why I walked away from being a Nascar fan. I mean, you want to build 30 race cars? Fine. But only bring 2 to the track. Pull one out of the hauler and that's the car you run. If you smash it into the wall trying to qualify or during practice and its not usable, THEN bring out the back up and start in the back.

Also once the car qualifies then that's how its raced. You want to choke off the air into the car for better aerodynamics for a faster time fine. But it's gonna be there when you race too.

I guess I'm still stuck in the past when it was still actual stock car racing. Now it's just a slightly cheaper form of Formula 1 with a roof.

Sorry about the rant....

[Cumminalong]

Shooooot, I say if you ain't stretching the rules, you ain't winning championships.

But, if you get caught, you suck!