Penalty for Newman, RCR another in a list of advantage-seeking
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The effort to go faster than anyone else has landed Ryan Newman in the doghouse, the Sprint Cup Series driver stripped of 75 points by NASCAR for issues related to his team's tires earlier this month at Auto Club Speedway.
In NASCAR's realm, tire tampering is among the most severe of offenses. Any broom pusher in any race shop knows that much. You don't mess with engines. You don't mess with fuel. And you don't mess with tires.
That's not to say folks don't, of course. The sport is full of examples of teams caught dealing from the bottom of the deck.
More than 30 years ago, NASCAR nipped seven-time champion Richard Petty for an over-sized engine, among other things, after a victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The $35,000 fine and 104-point penalty that followed were record amounts for the time.
In 2007, findings of an illegal fuel additive nearly sunk Michael Waltrip Racing before it made its debut in Daytona. The move cost Waltrip 100 points and crew chief David Hyder $100,000.
And in 2010, toying with the valve stems cost Travis Kvapil 150 points and crew chief Steve Lane $100,000 and a 12-race suspension after a race at Pocono.
Like I said, serious stuff.
Manipulating the air pressures resulted in a level P5 penalty for Newman and the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 team.
The sanctioning body rates the seriousness of offenses on a scale of 1-6. A P1 infraction will send you to the back of the field; a P6 will send you to Siberia.
And anything above a P3 carries additional "multipliers" tacked on to the initial penalties. Siberia without a coat. In the dead of winter.
Because the Newman infraction was discovered after the completion of the race, those "multipliers" came into effect, and a 50-point deduction for Newman and car owner Richard Childress became 75 points. A $75,000 fine for crew chief Luke Lambert swelled to $125,000.
Get caught earlier, save money and points, I suppose.
Was Newman's team the only one circumventing the tire rules, or the only one caught?
NASCAR took tires from teams after races at Phoenix, Auto Club and Martinsville -- Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick (twice) and Kurt Busch (once); Team Penske's Joey Logano (twice); RCR's Newman and Paul Menard (once each); as well as the teams of JTD Daugherty (AJ Allmendinger), Furniture Row Racing (Martin Truex Jr.) and Joe Gibbs Racing (Matt Kenseth).
All were examined. Only Newman's failed under further scrutiny.
Say what you want about Harvick's run of top-two finishes but the fact remains that no one’s car is dissected more closely than that of a race winner. Just ask six-time champ Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus -- the pair practically had a standing date with NASCAR's tech crew at the Research and Development Center during the No. 48 team's run of dominance.
Rumors of skirting the tire rules have seemed to grow with each passing week this season, but at least one driver said crew chiefs were warned to leave well enough alone as far back as last year's fall race at Phoenix.
Maybe some took the message to heart, and some didn't.
Blame the new rules package? More things to tinker with or just different ones maybe. Speed can be found in all sorts of places these days in NASCAR, not just under the hood. That's why the bigger stock-car teams invest heavily in laptops, spreadsheets and engineering degrees.
But wheels and tires haven't changed. Swap four when you need 'em, and two when you're in a hurry.
Just don't monkey with the air pressures.
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