[rmjvol]

It's too late now for the real thing to happen, but if you were running NASCAR, would you take away Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500?

Was the penalty imposed for the illegal modification enough or should the 48 team have been barred from racing the Daytona?

[PettyFan]

Nascar had the option to throw out Johnson's primary car but chose not to. He won fair and square (...hopefully it passed post-race inspection). Johnson ran a good clean race. Stewart could learn a thing or two. On second thought, it's hard to teach much to a Jackass!

[tbalt]

Johnson deserves this win, but he is not a model driver himself.

[rave20]

Should have made him race without a rear window!

[rmjvol]

Now *that* would have been an impressive win

[CRMartin]

Penalty or no, Jimmie Johnson raced a superb race. You can't just modify a race car and suddenly that makes you the automatic winner. That doesn't happen. At the end of the day, it's the person behind the wheel. And let's be realistic, do we honestly think ONLY Team 48 tinkers with their cars? Please, they just got caught. Everyone wants an advantage. You want to have the best car, the best edge, the best driver. Johnson proved at Daytona that he was the best on that day.

[k9kids]

Could someone please tell me what knaus did, I know he did something to the back window but what else? Please help. Oh yea and did he not get caght cheating last year to?

[Lefty Noob]

Hi, k9kids, and welcome to GoTeamsGo!

Regarding Knaus -- all I've heard officially is that he was suspended for "making unapproved modifications to the rear window." I've never specifically heard what those modifications were, and I'm not sure NASCAR ever released that information. If anyone has more details, could you please share them? And yes, Knaus is a repeat offender. There was an incident during the Vegas race last March and another in Dover.

[sehja]

IMHO Johnson earned his win.

[Lefty Noob]

Hi, sehja, and welcome to the boards!

I think most people seem to feel that way as well. I guess as long as his car passed post-race inspection, then it must have been legal. Still not sure there shouldn't have been stiffer penalties at the get-go, but at this stage of the game its a moot point. He won, NASCAR approved his car, the win stands, end of story.

[rmjvol]

Hi sehja & welcome to GoteamsGo.com

It's no doubt that winning a Nextel Cup race is quite a feat no mattter what the circumstances. I don't think that taking the win away would be the right choice either.

Johnson's a talented driver. Do you think the 48 team should have been more penalized for the cheating? maybe lost some points? or are you satisfied with the different penalties that NASCAR handed out to the different teams for cheating?

[sehja]

Thanks lefty!

What burns me about it really is that Johnson is such a good driver he doesn't need to cheat to win. The whole thing is stupid. I'd like to see a nice fat fine attached to the cheating along with the Knaus suspension simply because they are obviously thumbing their nose as NASCAR. I could understand it more if one of those "back of the pack" guys was trying to get an edge, but #48. Stupid. IMHO just stupid.

[Lefty Noob]

I read a story sometime last week where Knaus said that Johnson wasn't even a guy who was involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the car, he just showed up, drove it, and told the crew what needed fixed. If that really is the case, shouldn't ol' JJ be pretty ticked off that his pit crew might eventually cost him points with some of these illegal tweaks?

[sehja]

IMHO they HAVE to say JJ was uninformed but I can't picture them modifying the car without telling him. I just can't. And IMHO if they actually did Johnson would be raising holy hell. And media being what it is, if there was a battle royale going in in the 48 garage someone would have leaked by now. So no, I think he knew and I think the top drivers and teams that pull this, no matter how big or small need a whooopin. Hit um in the wallet.

[swbytm]

He added a part on the suspension adjustment, so when you adjusted the suspension it raised the rear window up, taking air off the spoiler creating less drag, thus the car would go faster.

Nascar should have kept the car and barred the team from the race.

WHAT kind of penalty is just not showing up on the track, he can still be on the phone, on line and at the shop and making the calls. NASCAR played major favorite's this year AS far as IM concerned HE came in dead last, after all this isn't the first time.