 | | Chad Knaus has a lot of free time to answer questions. Credit: Autostock |
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
February 18, 2006
11:58 AM EST (16:58 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A wink here. A joke there. That's the usual reaction when cheating comes up in NASCAR. That was the reaction Friday when the subject was broached by four of the sport's top owners, Richard Petty, Richard Childress, Robert Yates and Bill Davis. "I'm going to sit here and lie to you,'' said Yates, who owns the Fords driven by Nextel Cup drivers Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett. "I'd never cheat.'' NASCAR chairman Brian France said the sport may have an image problem when it comes to cheating. He admits the sport's credibility is on the line, one reason the sanctioning body came down hard on crew chief Chad Knaus when he illegally rigged a device to raise the rear window of Jimmie Johnson's car in qualifying Sunday. Knaus was ejected from participating in any other events through Sunday's Daytona 500, and is expected to be suspended for one or two more races. That has taken away much of the focus from everything good -- such as under-funded Kirk Shelmerdine making his first 500 as a driver and rookie Denny Hamlin winning the Budweiser Shootout -- that's happened at Daytona International Speedway. "It's not helpful, that's for sure,'' France said. "We've got such great action, probably the best rookie crowd in recent memory, and a lot to talk about what's happened on the track, and that is a big distraction. "We're going to have to get tough on that.'' France indicated that Knaus is a repeat offender -- something other NASCAR officials have downplayed -- will be a factor in further punishment. "We're not happy that he has had a progression of pushing the envelope,'' he said. "We expect everybody to be aggressive where there are rules laid out. We don't expect somebody to fall into the bad zone, if you will, too many times. "And we're going to have to check ourselves from a deterrent standpoint, are we doing enough where they understand what we're doing?'' France said times have changed as the sport has become a big-money business and that NASCAR's penalties must reflect that for the sake of credibility for itself and the sponsors. "The sponsorship dollars are enormous,'' he said. "The driver, I don't think, wants to be in a bad light with their sponsor.'  | 
 | TAKE THE CHALLENGE | Give the right side of your brain the day off as you juggle a field of NASCAR drivers while staying under a salary cap.
For Reese's, it's all about the Cup. Pick the best drivers from each group and walk away with the top prize. Build your point total week after week! Earn great prizes! Are you ready to make the hard choices?
Streak to the Finish challenges you to guess a top-10 driver in next week's NASCAR race.
Who do you want to make a superstar? The Superstar Fantasy Cap Challenge gives you that power. Just don't use the same driver twice this year.
Play the Ultimate Fantasy League. Draft, trade, add, and drop drivers throughout the season. Dominate your opponents with the best team of drivers you can assemble.
|
|
"If there is somebody who drifts and wants to reach for the fences and go outside the rulebook, it's our job to figure it out. It is our job to have a deterrent system in place.'' Petty said he has a totally different approach to cheating with Cheerios as his sponsor than he did when with STP. "They loved it because it was in the newspaper and they were getting their name out there,'' he said of STP. "It would not work with Cheerios. They're on the other side of the table. '' Petty said cheating has been tolerated more in NASCAR than other sports, such as the Olympics where athletes are sent home for breaking rules, because it's considered a competition inside the competition. "I always told my guys, 'Cheat neat and you'll get by with a bunch of stuff,''' Petty said. "Those days are pretty much over. It's so technical. I don't think some of the guys working on the car even understand what's going on because that's how technical it got. "I don't particularly tell my guys to cheat. I just tell them not to get caught.'' Childress reminded that Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, and Gary Nelson, NASCAR's vice president of research and development, both were known for pushing the envelope. He also understands that cheating isn't as accepted as it once was, particularly among sponsors. He found that out when Todd Berrier, the crew chief for Kevin Harvick, was suspended last season for four races after using an illegal fuel cell in qualifying. "I got a call last year and they definitely don't appreciate getting their name in the paper for it,'' Childress said. "I like to call it being competitive. I don't like to call it cheating, but times have changed. "We're under a huge microscope today. The least little bump becomes a huge mogul. Everybody is watching.'' France wants everybody watching for the right reason. "We'd love you to be talking about how terrific the sport is,'' France said, "as opposed to negative things that come up.'' More points for winner France said the sanctioning body is looking at future changes to the points system that would reward more points for winning. Hall of Fame deadline France said NASCAR expects to name the location of its Hall of Fame within the next month. Daytona Beach, Atlanta and Charlotte are the finalists. | 
