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McMurray, Harvick put on probation

Racing series NASCAR-CUP Date 2007-05-02 By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com
NASCAR officials continue to come down hard on rule violations this year, from the Daytona opening race to this past Sunday's Talladega event, the drivers, crew chiefs and teams have been hit by fines and probations.
The latest probation was announced today and included two of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competitors. Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick have been placed on probation until October 3rd.
Harvick, driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 29 , who finished sixth at the Talladega Superspeedway last Sunday, received the same fine as McMurray of $25,000.
McMurray, racing for Roush Fenway Racing in the No. 26 , and Harvick were found in violation of "actions detrimental to stock car racing" which is Section 12-4-A and is clarified as being "involved in an altercation with another competitor's car during a caution period".
The two had contact which took place on the final caution period. What happened after the green flag waved to start the final green-white-checkered flag was mass confusion. Even race winner Jeff Gordon was unclear at first if he did indeed win.
Under NASCAR rules, only one attempt is made at the green-white-checkered and if a second caution does happen during the final laps, the race is immediately over. All racing stops.
Harvick has 11 career wins and 90 top ten finishes in Cup, but his 2007 season has been a bit rough with nine starts and since his Daytona 500 victory, he has not landed a top three finish.
Making history in 2001, Harvick earned the Cup rookie of the year and the NASCAR Busch Series championship. He was the first to run every race in both series. Last year, he repeated the feat and again won the Busch title and finished fourth in the Cup standings.
In his fifth season, McMurray's career follows a similar path as Harvick, he earned the Cup rookie title in 2003. So far this season, he has had two top-10s in his nine starts, including a fifth at Talladega.
The only comments made after the event included McMurray's admission that he did have contact with David Gilliland and Tony Stewart on the green flag lap.
"We were really close on gas and they told me I needed to weave back and forth to get to the box in there that holds some fuel. It took off (on the last restart), and it ran until about third gear and it just quit. The 48 kind of got me lifted up and those guys got underneath me. I was trying to get down in front of the 38 and I couldn't. He kind of squeezed me up and then the 20 was on the outside and when there's a green-white-checker you just have to go. I didn't think the 38 was gonna shoot me up so far and I ended up getting into the 20 and, obviously, he's mad."
Harvick did not make a comment after the race. The day before his Cup race, he was a very happy racer when his Kevin Harvick, Inc. team finished one-two in the Busch series race: Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

[nascarfan24]

i saw this story on NASCAR Now and i thought it was totally unfair. harvick bumped him and mcmurry swerved in front so harvick could see his hands through the window as if saying, "What?" Harvick and McMurrey even talked about it yesterday on the phone and neither could understand.

[Racer Duck]

they're just trying to turn NA$CAR into a "nanny state"

let the racers work it out .. if it's a major problem, it'll come back (then take 'em to the trailer) .. if not, hardly anyone will remember...

[nascarfan24]

yeah i say just let the drivers handle it!
as long as they don't cuss on tv or anything, whose it hurting!?!
let the racers actually act like, dare i say, racers!

[Quality88]

I am all for driver justice.... DJ put it on ol Newman a couple of years ago.