Furr's offense the latest in a growing trend

By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
February 13, 2001
4:45 PM EST (2145 GMT)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Tony Furr's excitement when talking to the media could be likened to that of a trip to the dentist. It bites, but it's just something you've got to do.

Even so, Furr on Tuesday openly discussed the hefty fine NASCAR slapped him with Monday, and the four weeks he'll have off to think about it.

Furr, a veteran crew chief with a history of testing rules limits, was fined $12,500 and given a four-race suspension from his duties for using illegal rear suspension parts and an illegal fuel cell in Jerry Nadeau's No. 25 Chevrolet.

Tony Furr will begin his four-race suspension at Rockingham.

"We made a mistake and we're paying for it. It's as simple as that," Furr said.

When asked about the part in question, one that reportedly allowed Nadeau's car to dip lower than allowed, Furr gave a response worthy of a presidential candidate.

"I don't know exactly what you're talking about. We just know we were low," he said.

Furr's is not a new name on the NASCAR black list. In 1997 while working for Cale Yarborough Motorsports, he was fined $50,000 for an alteration to the carburetor restrictor plate in which the mounting studs that hold the plate to the carburetor were offset, allowing for better airflow. Furr got the last laugh in that situation, however, as John Andretti won his first career race in that same car with a legal restrictor plate unit two days later.

This time, Furr received a much less severe fine as far as money goes, but the overall penalty could prove worse. History says the first four races of the season are crucial. By missing four of the first five races _ Furr's suspension is to begin at the second race of the season _ his team will be forced to garner valuable points without his at-track direction. In his absence, car chief Gordon Gibbs will direct the team.

"If you look back at history, when you run good at Daytona, you do well in the first four or five races, you usually end up doing really well," Furr said. "Although I have seen some teams come from behind and do just as well. This is a very strong team with good people. I think with some time this team could come head above everybody else. There's a strong bunch of guys here."

Penske Racing South crew chief Peter Sospenzo received a $25,000 fine for a similar offense last season at California Speedway, where Jeremy Mayfield's car was discovered to be too low during post-race inspection. That wasn't Sospenzo's only run-in in 2000, either. The No. 12 team was hit hard after using an illegal fuel additive at Talladega Superspeedway. Then-owner Michael Kranefuss was fined $50,000 and docked 151 points, while Sospenzo was handed a month-long suspension.

Oddly enough, Kevin Cram, crew chief of the No. 01 Dodge driven by rookie Jason Leffler, was fined just $10,000 and given a four-race suspension Monday for running illegal fuel during pole qualifying last Friday.

Why the discrepancies between past and current infractions?

NASCAR Winston Cup director Gary Nelson said Monday that the sanctioning body is taking a new approach to its penalties against teams. Whereas in the past they would levy a fine, confiscate the part and forget about it, they now keep everything and create a file, so as to track repeat offenders. They even documented 10 crew chiefs for minor rules violations.

"I think what NASCAR does is if you do something severe, they're going to give you a severe penalty," Furr said. "There's some things they'll let you by on, things aren't detrimental to the sport or are a safety hazard. The things they'll get you on is safety and trying to get real powerful advantages. Some little things, I think they turn their heads on. I'd say that."

Furr went on to say that if NASCAR wanted to put the lock down on everyone, they could.

"I would say that if you wanted to, if you wanted to get nitpicky, you could probably get every car in the field," he said. "Some things are in the gray and some things are little past the gray. It all depends on what your definition of gray is."

That gray area is a virtual promised land for crew chiefs. To enter into it without being caught, you'll have a distinct advantage. Having committed the crime, Furr must now do the time. He'll be on probation for the remainder of the year, and is well aware that Big Brother's watchful eye is on him.

"It's very difficult. You have that line you have to walk and make sure you don't get over the edge," Furr said. "Our job the rest of the year, we're on probation now, so our job this year is walk that line and not off that line. We've got to go right by the rulebook now. When in doubt, we've got to ask them out, that's our motto right now. We're gonna make sure that happens.

"That'll make it tough, because other teams get by with stuff. We'll just have to be on our toes and make sure we do all our homework at the shop and come to the track prepared. I think we have one of the best engine groups on the circuit, one of the best drivers, engineering groups and people. We've got what it takes to win races. We don't have to cheat."