Carl Edwards Penalized by NASCAR, Loses Sprint Cup Lead
Carl Edwards’ lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series was short-lived, as series officials have ruled to penalize the driver for a technical infringement found on his car from the UAW Dodge 400 in Las Vegas this past Sunday.
After winning the race, Edward’s car failed an inspection for having its oil tank box lid off, and was taken to the NASCAR R&D facility in North Carolina for a closer look. That secondary inspection revealed that a bolt holding the lid on failed due to vibrations in the car. As a result, NASCAR has docked Edwards and the Roush Fenway Racing team 100 points in the driver and owner standings, as well as losing a potential 10-point win bonus for seeding in the Chase.
In addition to the points deduction, crew chief Bob Osborne will be suspended for six-races, placed on probation, and fined $100,000.
The lose of points drops Edwards from first to seventh place in the driver standings, and gives the Sprint Cup series lead back to Kyle Busch.
Said team president Geoff Smith, “It's a tough business for any race team to have to pledge $100,000, 100 points and a six-race crew chief suspension as an indemnity payment to NASCAR against a promise forced from us by NASCAR that no bolt will ever fail its purpose under race conditions."
Roush Fenway Racing has not yet made it clear if it will appeal the NASCAR penalties.
+ Autosport: Edwards penalised, loses points lead
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Comments
Greg
Holy s**t, I knew scrutineers were intense, but I didn't know they were THAT intense.
Steve
Yeah... That seems a bit overboard... What's the big picture here, NASCAR fans? Any funny business involved?
smokyburnout
if the oil tank cover is off, it lets outside air into the car, which is both a minor aerodynamic advantage (the diversion of air allows the rear of the car to sit lower and moves the rear spoiler further out of the air, reducing drag) and is also a driver safety hazard (the air is coming up from under the car, so it allows exhaust gases into the cockpit).
A. Wofford
Maybe I need a diagram explaining why this matters so much? Seems pretty stupid, besides, we know that "rubbin's racin' ", and all these stupid little pannels get knocked off all the time.
Scott
Seems the penalty is little steep. Guess I don't understand how they can do that, yet let a foreign company compete in an American race. I'd also like to thank role models Waltrip, Mayfield, and Jarret for giving American workers a kick in the head. Heartless, personal greed.
Raven
This is not good, and certianly not reseasonable. It will give the Hendrick Lads something else to wine about, or is that gloat about.
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