[LSC9901]

Reiser, Francis hit with four-race suspensions

All Evernham cars penalized as teams also lose points

By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
February 13, 2007
07:12 PM EST

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In what could be called the most severe set of sanctions ever delivered by NASCAR in one day, four Nextel Cup crew chiefs were suspended and their teams were fined a total of $150,000, 150 driver points and 150 car owner points Tuesday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Evernham Motorsports took the biggest hit as its lead car, the No. 9 Dodge of driver Kasey Kahne, lost its team director, Kenny Francis, for four races beginning with Sunday's Daytona 500; Kahne was docked 50 driver points and owner Ray Evernham 50 owner points.


Kahne's teammates, Elliott Sadler (No. 19) and Scott Riggs (No. 10) lost their team directors, Josh Browne and Rodney Childers, respectively, for two races apiece; Sadler and Riggs will lose 25 driver points each, and owners Evernham (19) and James Rocco (10) will be docked 25 owner points following the Daytona 500.
Roush Racing's No. 17 Ford team for driver Matt Kenseth was hit with an equivalent penalty as Kahne's -- with both infractions involving "air improperly ducted into the car," according to NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton.
Kenseth's crew chief Robbie Reiser will serve a four-race suspension and he was assessed a $50,000 fine. Kenseth will lose 50 driver points and owner Jack Roush 50 owner points.
Kenseth last year finished second to Jimmie Johnson in the Nextel Cup championship. If Reiser is not reinstated for the Daytona 500, it will be the first race he's missed with the 17 crew in 255 starts.
"Obviously I'm disappointed with the penalty and the fact I won't be there at the Daytona 500 and for the following races," Reiser said. "It was my job to ensure that the cap on the wheel well was properly secured, but it came off during our qualifying run and we ended up outside of the rules because of it.
"I understand NASCAR has a set of rules and we have to abide by them and it's ultimately my responsibility to make sure we do that."
"I am saddened by the fact that Robbie will not be with the No. 17, Matt Kenseth-driven Nextel Cup racecar for this year's Daytona 500," Roush said. "We remain very confident about the preparation of this team for 2007 and remain confident of our chances for success in the Daytona 500 and in the upcoming races.
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"To be clear on my position regarding NASCAR's decision to penalize the infraction, I respect and accept NASCAR's determination that the car was out of compliance as it was inspected after Sunday's qualifying attempt."
Neither the financial nor the point penalties were NASCAR highs, but the number of top-level crew chiefs who cannot participate in the remainder of Speedweeks 2007 was significant.


The largest monetary fine for a crew chief ironically came when Evernham was docked $60,000 for the "use of parts that do not conform to NASCAR license" on driver Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
In May 2000, car owner Michael Kranefuss was docked 151 owner points and the driver of his No. 12 Penske/Kranefuss Ford, Jeremy Mayfield, was docked 151 driver points for "use of fuel by a competitor that does not meet NASCAR specifications."
Kahne and Kenseth's infractions were discovered following Sunday's Bud Pole Award qualifying session for the Daytona 500 and their qualifying times were disallowed. Kenseth had qualified 11th and Kahne 28th.
They will both start the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race on Thursday at the rear of the field, but due to their position in the 2006 owner points, they are both guaranteed starts in the Daytona 500.
Sadler and Riggs' infraction, which according to Pemberton involved "holes drilled in the fasteners that hold the rear spoiler to the deck lid to leak air out of the trunk area," was discovered in pre-qualifying inspection.
NASCAR said no determination had yet been made on a "substance" found in the intake manifold of the engine in Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota, after which the manifold was confiscated; or the release of the entire car and second manifold, which were impounded following Waltrip's 24th-place qualifying run.
"We're still evaluating that right now and we'll get to it as soon as we can," Pemberton said. "ASAP, that's all I can tell you."
Waltrip's next Nextel Cup practice is at noon ET Wednesday.
All four teams can appeal the penalties, Pemberton said.
It was the second consecutive Speedweeks in which a team received a significant penalty for a qualifying infraction. Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for four races and fined $25,000 last year for engineering a device that repositioned driver Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet's rear window while qualifying.
The team went on to win the Daytona 500 and another race, and finish second and sixth in the other despite lacking Knaus. Pemberton said that following a recent trend, NASCAR had stiffened its penalties in light of the new violations.
"The 48 team is a great race team and they've got a lot of depth," Pemberton said of the team's success without its leader. "We'll continue to raise the penalties as time goes forward until we get everybody's attention."
None of the teams penalized immediately said they would appeal the penalties, and only Roush announced a replacement for his crew chief when he named Chip Bolin, longtime engineer on the No. 17 team, as the interim crew chief for the remainder of Speedweeks and throughout Reiser's suspension, which lasts through the event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 18.
"I have full confidence in Chip, Matt and the guys," Reiser said. "This group has been together for so long and they know how to get the job done. We've got fast cars, a great team and a great driver, and if I have done my job as a crew chief, then there's no reason this setback should keep us from competing for wins during my absence at the track."
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Roush said he hadn't closed the book on a possible appeal.
"I have asked [Roush Racing president] Geoff Smith to evaluate whether the penalties assessed are unduly harsh for the circumstances before making a final decision as to whether or not we will appeal the severity of the penalty imposed," Roush said. "I feel certain, however, that there was no intention on Robbie's part to sidestep any NASCAR rule or policy in this regard.
"The extreme harshness of the penalty surprises me given NASCAR's recent history of imposing lesser penalties on habitual offenders engaged in radically more flagrant rule offenses."

Geoff Smith




"NASCAR officials have a tremendous responsibility and a most difficult task, charged with making and enforcing the many rules and regulations which make possible the sport around which we build our lives.
"We at Roush Racing are determined to abide by all of NASCAR's mandates and are committed to make our best effort to avoid future embarrassments which are within our control."
Smith, an attorney, indirectly cited Knaus' 2006 infraction when he began making his case.
"The extreme harshness of the penalty surprises me given NASCAR's recent history of imposing lesser penalties on habitual offenders engaged in radically more flagrant rule offenses," Smith said. "For that reason, I am likely to recommend that we appeal the penalty assessment, although I have some more study to do before I officially make that recommendation."
Evernham also said in a statement he would analyze the situation before making a decision on whether to appeal.
"We regret that this situation has occurred, and apologize to our partners, team members, fans and NASCAR," Evernham said. "Once we conduct a thorough review of NASCAR's findings we will determine the proper course of action to take. We did not intend to infringe on the rules and will research this matter to ensure it does not occur again.
"We will make the necessary personnel adjustments during the period our teams are affected by [Tuesday's] ruling. I'm confident the Evernham Motorsports depth of leadership and team structure of team director, car director and engineer working in unison will be an asset in our race preparations over the coming weeks.
"We remain confident in the outlook for Evernham Motorsports this season and our ability to win races and compete for the championship."

[simple simon]

id say points hurt the most by far

if the team and driver are in sync you can have a good race without the crew chief

and $50,000 is peanuts to most of these guys

but 50 points is alot........i believe you can win the 500 and be in about 10th place in points.......alot to make up in my opinion

[simple simon]

its also a little disturbing that Evernham is involved again

makes me wonder how many times he cheated and wasnt caught

[Glo]

Great way to start the season! Maybe NASCAR has opted for the Barney Fife aproach...Nip It, Nip It, Nip It!!!

[simple simon]

welcome to the forum glo

did one of the drivers you like get fined ?

im for Montoya so all is good so far

[Team Yates]

Originally Posted by simple simon

its also a little disturbing that Evernham is involved again

makes me wonder how many times he cheated and wasnt caught

Well Simon, you know the old saying: Once a cheater always a cheater. Yeah, how many "shady" things did he get away without being caught. It makes you wonder about all Gordo's "championships" cough, cough!! I'm glad they caught him. I hope they are still looking at Knauss real hard, go back and read the first sentence - Once a cheater always a cheater.

[oncea3fan]

sorry TY but if you could get the complete and total truth from everyone in nasacar you'd see that everyone has broken the rules at one time or another, it's only cheating if you get caught.

I remember when Gary Nealson became a nascar inspector(he was a crew chief before that) everyone was worried because he knew all the little things everyone could slipby the inspector. that when inspection became a nightmare.

what is it they say "if you ain't cheatin ,you ain't trying hard enough"

[The Pits]

If you think they are cheating now, wait until they get at the Car Of Tomorrow. Those cars are supposed to be exactly alike, but you can bet that those engineers and crew chiefs will find ways to improve performance over the competition.

[LSC9901]

I'm sure it won't really stop any of them from seeking a new way to get around the rules. I do like it though that they are getting right after them. Now we'll see if they can and will keep it up.

[simple simon]

im anxious to see what really happens to Waltrip and his team

so far i saw his crew chief was suspended indefinitly

[LSC9901]

This is one avenue that NA$CAR can go down to try and eliminate cheating. The biggest problem is that they tend to not deliver penalties evenly or consistantly. When they start doing that, more teams will fall in line. The loss of 50 points and the fear of more can loom large over any team thinking they can bend the rules just a little.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Glo

Great way to start the season! Maybe NASCAR has opted for the Barney Fife aproach...Nip It, Nip It, Nip It!!!

Bulls*#t. Hmm.... yeah no Hendrick cars involved so penalties fines and points taken away(not that I'm condoning cheatin). I do believe they should get kicked in the a$$... However, Knaus cheats... he gets ejected from Daytona(can still use his cell phone to communicate) and no points taken. BULLS*#T!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Bulls*#t. Hmm.... yeah no Hendrick cars involved so penalties fines and points taken away(not that I'm condoning cheatin). I do believe they should get kicked in the a$$... However, Knaus cheats... he gets ejected from Daytona(can still use his cell phone to communicate) and no points taken. BULLS*#T!

No ... really "Q" tell us how you feel about this in relation to "Knausing" ?????

[LSC9901]

As I think about this maybe "Knausing" and cheating are two different things ???

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

As I think about this maybe "Knausing" and cheating are two different things ???

Knausing gets you a slap on the hand... cheating gets your a$$ handed to you.
Maybe everyone should start Knausing?