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This one hurts. When news came down midday Wednesday that the stiffest of the four NASCAR penalties for last weekend's technical missteps was directed at Michael Waltrip Racing, it marked the latest in a series of hurts, like reopening a wound already full from an ocean's worth of salt.
The P4-level infraction left Clint Bowyer, MWR's lone hope in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, back in the postseason's starting blocks, stripping the No. 15 Toyota team of the 25 points it had to show for a 19th-place effort last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. The violation for an illegally mounted track bar also tacked fines, suspensions and probation onto an organization that's already reeling from its planned exit from stock-car racing at the year's end.
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Michael Waltrip Racing issued a statement on the heels of the penalty's announcement, saying that it "respectfully disagrees" with NASCAR's ruling. On Thursday, the team formally filed an appeal -- MWR will make its case on Sept. 30. That may mean that the proceedings may have more instances of "please" and "thank you" in the immediate appeal, but the impact is far greater than any niceties that might arise. Either way, it's a tough way to realize that the adjustable track bar that debuted this season is not as adjustable as previously thought.
Regardless of how the expedited hearing might play out, the statement made the rare step of acknowledging the organization's past transgressions, saying, "MWR has made mistakes in the past, but we feel we are correct in this instance." It's much like the child who's been a repeat offender when dipping his or her hand into the cookie jar attempting to plead an honest case, even as the crumbs from previous trespasses still pockmark their sleeves.
And those blunders have been monumental ones, in some instances career-altering indiscretions with further-reaching implications than mere mistakes. Barring an egregious infraction from another corner of the garage in the next nine weeks, the Waltrip-owned organization will end its run with the distinction of twice holding the record for the most severe penalty in NASCAR's history.
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The first infamous record-setter came shockingly in what was supposed to be Toyota's first big splash in NASCAR's major leagues, when Waltrip's car failed inspection ahead of the 2007 Daytona 500 because of illegally altered fuel. The Japanese automaker managed to overcome that initial black eye, but it left what turned out to be a lasting smudge.
The second and more glaring encroachment on the rules came before the 2013 Chase, when the organization was found to have manipulated the results of the regular-season finale. The aftermath was a scaled-down MWR, with Martin Truex Jr. and longtime sponsor NAPA both bolting for greener grass elsewhere.
Contrast against those two violations, Wednesday's P4 revelation might be considered small potatoes -- not quite russets, but not fingerlings either.
It would be shortsighted to chalk MWR's demise solely up to its most prominent scandal. Other factors -- whether financial, technological or merely circumstantial -- certainly played a role.
The verdict of the appeal will matter, potentially giving Bowyer renewed hope in one last Chase pursuit or glum closure to the MWR era. Only time -- expedited or not -- will tell.