[Lefty Noob]

With all of this controversy around the Jimmie Johnson victory at Daytona today, I wanted to get everyone's thoughts on this tidbit from Bruce Martin, SportsTicker Contributing Editor: "Although Knaus was sent home, he was able to communicate with his race team by cell phone, e-mail and FAX. That's like someone in prison still orchestrating his gang by getting the word out through other channels."

What, are you kidding me? This reminds me of the time baseball manager Bobby Valentine got tossed from a game and tried to come back in disguise. Even if you don't agree that Johnson should have been disqualified, at the very least you've got to admit that Knaus should have had NO contact with the team today! Come on, NASCAR, you've got to do better than this!

[rmjvol]

So you're comparing the 48 team to the mob? hehe

[vicfirth5150]

Steve Latarte also had communication with his team as well.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by vicfirth5150

Steve Latarte also had communication with his team as well.

They all have but Tony Eury Jr bragged about it. That's how it all came to a head this time.

[JG24]

I really dont think there is anyway for nascar to monitor this. i mean with all the communication equimpent out now theres no way..dw and alot of others have said that there is no way to monitor it.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by JG24

I really dont think there is anyway for nascar to monitor this. i mean with all the communication equimpent out now theres no way..dw and alot of others have said that there is no way to monitor it.

100% correct but they can and are keeping them away from the track. That's a start.

[JG24]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

100% correct but they can and are keeping them away from the track. That's a start.

true, but nascar has to do something to stop this but unfortanately i dont think that they can

[vicfirth5150]

What they will have to do is probably punish the drivers more, Which is not fare considering that the drivers didn't have anything to do with infraction.

[Quality88]

They could take away all forms of communication and the suspended crew chiefs would still send up smoke signals

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by JG24

true, but nascar has to do something to stop this but unfortanately i dont think that they can

The powers of NASCAR are somewhat limited as far as suspensions go. In theory they can only ban the crew chiefs from anything that requires a NASCAR license. You cannot prevent them from working at the shop or communicating from a motel room. One way to deal with violations is to make the penalty more severe such as the entire team is banned from a decided number of races. We all know that unless NASCAR gets serious about penalties, that'll never happen. There has to be something in the middle that will satisfy the probelm and those involved. It would be nice to think that if the rules were revised to stiffer penalties, and everyone was aware, that the violations might not happen for fear of the penalty.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by vicfirth5150

What they will have to do is probably punish the drivers more, Which is not fare considering that the drivers didn't have anything to do with infraction.

welcome to GTG vic. I see you've hit the ground runnin'. keep it up. and don't forget to post your prediction for this weeks race on the "prediction" thread.

but I have to disagree with you on this one. drivers, at the very least, know about the infraction before it's found. they may not know the technicalities of what was done, but they know something was done in an area that may be gray. also, they are the face that's associated with the car number. with that comes the responsibility of everything that is good or bad about the car. most people can't name but a few crew chiefs, but they know all the driver names. so whether the driver took an active part in the infraction, he/she's still the one who needs to get penalized, after all, the driver is the one who has the championship points, not the crew chief or the front tire changer.

[LSC9901]

I agree and disagree with you Ducky. Not sure they always know they are sitting in a violated car but I do 101% agree that the way to make the penalty most effective is to penalize the bread winner. I just think that type of penalty will make even the gas man think before he violates any rules.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I just think that type of penalty will make even the gas man think before he violates any rules.

Does that mean we would see a whole lot more BEANO bein dumped into gas tanks to take away any, um, impurities?

[Nevadastars]

Maybe a more realistic penalty, would be for the driver to have no communication with anyone while in the car.
Make 'em bring back the Pit Board.

[Pepsi One]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I agree and disagree with you Ducky. Not sure they always know they are sitting in a violated car but I do 101% agree that the way to make the penalty most effective is to penalize the bread winner. I just think that type of penalty will make even the gas man think before he violates any rules.

I think Nascars penalties are too stiff as it is, Nascar tells teams to work within the gray area, Helton himself says he encourages it, but I dont think Nascar clearly defines the rules good enough to be able to penalize more, If they want to stiffen the penalties why dont they set limits and tell teams these are lines that cant be crossed, but if you allow a "grey area" then you allow things to be up to inturpitation, which means what Helton thinks is to far a CC might not! So how can you penalize someone who doesn't think they've crossed a line! Nascar needs to step up them selves and say there is a white area and there is a black are but no grey! And only after they do that can they stiffen the penalties!