For crew chiefs, gray area isn't limited to the cars (cont'd)

It wasn't. For that oversight, the crew chiefs were fined and suspended. Their drivers were docked championship points and not allowed to qualify, "which pretty much eliminated them from contention of winning that race, in our view," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. Now NASCAR is considering stronger sanctions, what France called "sort of a death penalty," locking an entire team out of a race. Unfair or not, the driver -- who plays a minimal role in the setup process and is hardly even in the shop during the week -- may end up paying the ultimate price.

Heavy hitter

Brian France said that NASCAR isn't afraid to levy harsher penalties if need be.

• Complete story, click here
• Listen to news conference here
• NASCAR puts teams on notice
• Q&A: John Darby

But in a sport where tenths of a second are so crucial and the rule book is often nebulous, crew chiefs will continue to try and take advantage of any opening they can. So when they're suspended, they're going to scrounge infield passes and meet their boys in the parking lot. And when they're banned from track property, they're going to work the cell phone and the laptop and the instant messaging service and do as much as they can from as close as they can get.

What could NASCAR do? Shackle them with an ankle monitor? Have Nextel cut the power to their BlackBerrys? Threaten them with more severe penalties if they're spotted at the Olive Garden off International Speedway Boulevard? Honestly, Mr. Darby, I was just here for the cannelloni ...

"I think these days, with technology, it's going to be really hard -- whether it is us or somebody in the future -- to keep them away from being in some kind of contact with the team," Gordon said.

Neither Knaus nor Letarte will be at Daytona this weekend, but neither was scheduled to be. They're both back at the Hendrick Motorsports shop outside Charlotte, working on cars for upcoming events at Chicago and Indianapolis. But that doesn't mean they won't be at a race location sometime in the next four weeks, poking around the boundaries of that gray area, trying to find a back door in. After all, they're crew chiefs. It's what they do.