Busch, Edwards have too much to lose to lose it (cont'd)

2. NASCAR suspended seven crewmen on the Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide team indefinitely for what appeared to be blatant cheating. Were the penalties severe enough?

David Caraviello: Too bad this happened too late for last week's Smack. No question this was a blatant attempt to circumvent rules -- you don't put magnets underneath the throttle for show. But interesting that the in-house penalties were stiffer than the ones NASCAR handed out.

Punishing its own

After NASCAR handed down its penalties against JGR, the team took it one step further.

• For complete story, click here
• Forum: Did penalty fit crime?
• Subs get Gibbs back on track

Raygan Swan: I think the penalties were fair, along with the in-house penalties because the Gibbs operation prides itself on class and integrity. This was a major black eye for the Gibbs family. It's rare to see an overt admission of guilt like J.D. displayed, so you know he was going to drop the hammer on those guys.

Dave Rodman: But were the penalties really severe enough? By simply keeping the guys at home, that sends a half-butted message. If you wanted to send a real message, someone needed to go down.

David Caraviello: Dave, I can't disagree more. Dropping the hammer doesn't necessarily mean firing someone. It's like people want blood on this one. Yeah, they screwed up. Bad. Some of these guys will never see the racetrack again. But it's not worth putting families and lives in jeopardy.

Dave Rodman: This would take a court of law to satisfy a lot of people -- like, who put the magnets inside the car, and assuming they were put in before the race, who positioned them after the race to impede the test?

Raygan Swan: Remember, everyone cheats. They got caught, now let them learn from their mistakes. Everyone gets a second chance, and their penalties are stiff, and they've suffered major embarrassment, and their drivers' talents are being questioned now.

Dave Rodman: I agree -- but we were talking about making a statement. What I'm hearing is, "I wish you hadn't done it." Well, no kidding.

David Caraviello: Well, I don't think it's necessarily that. But you do have a culture where this kind of stuff is endemic. And it's up to the Gibbs team as to whether they want to keep these people employed. And if they do so, I'm fine with it. For guys like Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff -- who may very well be paying the price for something people underneath them did -- being banned from the racetrack for the last third of the season is quite a penalty in and of itself.

Dave Rodman: Well, they're in good company, at least. I think Joe and J.D. are a cut above the crowd -- for better or worse, this aspect of their team is down among the great unwashed. The other thing is, are these guys really going to have to pay what amounts to a sizeable chunk of their salaries, when you talk about taking care of their families, and what do their "additional in-house penalties" add up to?

Raygan Swan: How about the inspectors this season, they are finding some real interesting techniques. It would be interesting to learn how they go about looking for broken rules inside the car. The magnets seem so obvious to me.

Dave Rodman: If they're what I'm imagining them to be, they really wouldn't be. The inspectors are like, who was it, Werner the Ferret from The Great Escape?

David Caraviello: I think the Gibbs team winds up saving face nicely here, which they have a history of doing in these kinds of situations (i.e., Tony Stewart and the photographer at Indy). My question is, does this raise more issues with Toyota horsepower in the Nationwide Series, given the lengths some appear to go to conceal it? I mean, what are they trying to hide here?

Dave Rodman: Someone needs to ask the questions in California and find out what the tests found -- unless that was found out at Bristol.

David Caraviello: Heard nothing about that at Bristol. Swan, you're on the case. (Continued)