Junior docked 100 points for illegal rear mounting

[doh]

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/head...ies/index.html

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 100 points Tuesday, and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for an illegal part at Darlington Raceway.

The penalty is a significant setback in his team's bid to win a Cup title before racing's most popular driver leaves after the season.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. will appeal, team president Max Siegel said.

"We are not disputing the ruling," Siegel said. "But we are appealing the severity of the penalty because the penalty itself is not spelled out in the rule book."

According to NASCAR, the No. 8 team was found to have violated Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules), and 20-3.1.3B (the NASCAR-approved upper and lower rear wing mounting brackets must not be modified to obtain a rear-wing angle of less than zero degrees or more than 16 degrees) of the 2007 NASCAR rule book.

Eury Jr.'s suspension begins immediately and would include this weekend's Nextel All-Star Challenge and the next six points events, but if DEI appeals he'll be allowed to work until the appeal is heard. If he does ultimately miss races, car chief Tony Gibson will replace him on top of the pit box.

The penalty knocked Earnhardt from 12th in the standings -- the final qualifying position for the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- to 14th. He's now 721 points behind points leader Jeff Gordon, and 54 points out of Chase contention.

"The team is like a family and they are pretty resilient," Siegel said. "I met with them all this morning and I didn't get any sense at all that anybody was freaking out. Everyone went into a 'What do we do now?' mode. It is what it is -- it was a mistake, and it's unfortunate. But we'll move on."

Earnhardt announced last week he will leave DEI, his late father's company, after the season. He was not available for comment Tuesday, but Siegel said he met with the crew earlier in the day and the driver was present. Although the team has been in turmoil since Earnhardt's announcement, the driver and crew have promised to race hard for the rest of the year.

NASCAR inspectors said Earnhardt's rear wing was improperly mounted when it was checked Saturday at Darlington. The brackets used to mount the piece were confiscated.

The infraction was the first on the NASCAR-designed Car of Tomorrow, which has strict templates that leave little wiggle room for a crew chief. The severity of the penalty was likely NASCAR's way of informing teams it will not permit any alterations to the COT.

[likearock00]

I just got done reading this on NASCAR.com. Another monkey to throw onto Jr's back right now.....definitely NOT needed!! Well, I hope he can pull out a win on Saturday just to throw it back in their faces. It would be nice to have him in the chase too, I'll keep my fingers crossed!

[doh]

- 100 points is kinda a kick you know where, for the chase.

[Smellhound]

Originally Posted by doh

- 100 points is kinda a kick you know where, for the chase.

But with the changes to the format now, it wont' matter once the chase starts. It doesn't matter if you finish 1st or 12th when the chase starts, the only bonus you get going in is for victories.

The 100 points hurts getting in, but he is still only 1 good race (likely a single top 5 or maybe even a top 10) gets him back in or near the top 12, with still a lot of races to go.

[SDRacing]

jr already has 2 DNFs this year, and was still in the chase till this, so im not worried about him making the chase. Now Eury jr .....I wonder if he wants to leave when jr does....hmmm..

[AndrewGS]

"Illegal rear mounting. Uh huhuhuh..."

[prowlerjc]

^ I know!! I was hoping for some NSFW content!

[tholland]

Penalty seems a bit severe... considering similar violations were 50 pts at Daytona. Of course that was not their precious COT though.

[Family Man]

I think NASCAR is trying to prove a point... That, or somehow the rules changed again..