Track Smack: Breaking down the HMS penalties

1) The ax has fallen on Hendrick Motorsports or, given it was the exact same penalty given to Tony Eury Jr., was it only a rubber mallet, designed to bruise but not really cause any damage?

Dave Rodman: At the risk of being ignorant or naive, I'll say it was far less than I expected. Ignorant or naive comes from my thinking this was a far more willful attempt at circumventing the spirit, if not the outright intent of the rules.

Raygan Swan: NASCAR is being fair with their penalties -- well, until Kurt Busch was involved. I think his penalty for nearly taking out a crewman was a bit light.

Joe Menzer: I think NASCAR did the only thing NASCAR could do. If the penalty was less than what the 8 got, it would look like they are pandering to Hendrick. More; and it looks like they are trying to even the playing field.

Raygan Swan: Joe, I agree and it adds a little something to the competition -- as artificial as it may be.

Dave Rodman: Huh? They ARE trying to even the playing field.

Joe Menzer: I meant points-wise, sort of like throwing a debris caution on the season to tighten up the field. Obviously they are trying to level the field competition-wise, as they should. They don't want ANYONE messing with their precious Car of Tomorrow -- and they shouldn't.

Dave Rodman: But if they were trying to send a message, well, I think it was a dismal failure.

Raygan Swan: What I want to know is just how much Chad Knaus has cost Hendrick Motorsports in his career. He's working on a major three-of-a-kind.

Joe Menzer: So Rodman, you are saying they got off light -- that rather than a mallet bruise, so to speak, you wanted them to swing an ax and cut their heads off? Do they really deserve to have their heads handed to them over this? I don't think so.

Dave Rodman: Well, I guess death penalty references were way too harsh -- but I think in terms of a solid effect, it lacked it.

Joe Menzer: I disagree. These are major penalties, as were the ones to the 8. You can't wreck their entire seasons just because of one race where they ran into infractions. (Continued)