Clint Bowyer

Just in case you have been living under a rock the past week, let me get you up to speed.  During the week following the Chase cutoff race at Richmond, NASCAR issued a warning to the 33 Richard Childress Racing team.  They warned the team that the car they raced in Richmond was severely close to going over the line in the rule book.  I am still foggy as to the exact measurements and areas that NASCAR questioned, but suficit to say, the warning was issued.  Following Clint Bowyer’s win in Loudon the very next week, his car was again inspected and passed.  The car was taken to NASCAR’s R&D center for further inspection, where it was discovered to be 0.060 of an inch out of compliance in the same areas that the sanctioning body had previously warned about.

This revelation led to severe penalties.  Richard Childress, and Clint Bowyer were docked 150 owner and driver points respectively.  Crew chief Shane Wilson and car chief Chad Haney were also fined, and in addition, suspended from the Sprint Cup garage for six races, from NASCAR until November 1, and placed on probation until December 31.

Going into this weekend’s events in Dover, RCR denies that they cheated.  Childress argues that the 0.060 discrepancy is a result of Bowyer’s car being pushed by a tow truck following his burnout after his victory and possibly from congratulatory bumps from other drivers on Boywer’s victory lap.

Clint Bowyer and Richard Childress defended their stance further in the Dover media center, stating “Why would we in our right mind bring a non-compliant car to the track the very next week after being warned?”  Bowyer used a quarter from his pocket to illustrate what the 0.060 infraction looked like.  Denny Hamlin voiced his opinion later, asserting that the RCR team did commit the infraction and it did provide an advantage.  He went on to add that teams are paid to push the envelope and the 33 team got caught.

The media center banter led to an on track skirmish at the beginning of Cup Series practice.  RCR teammate Kevin Harvick bumped and banged with Denny Hamlin as the cars started the warm up lap at the start of practice.  NASCAR removed the two drivers from the track, where they had further words with each other in the garage area.  They both lost valuable practice time as the teams had to repair the damage caused by the altercation.

Now that you are up to speed, let me share with you why I am defending the 33 team.  Over the course of the weekend in Loudon, the 33 car was inspected four separate times.  After his win, it was inspected again and passed.  The team was warned about the Richmond car after the race and after the New Hampshire car was already prepped and ready to go to Loudon.  NASCAR should have allowed the Childress team the time needed to make the necessary changes to the their car prior to enacting penalty.  How can you warn a team on such short notice, and expect them to be compliant that fast?  Take into account that all cars must go through the R&D center for approval prior to being brought to the track.  The whole thing is stupid. Literally.  NASCAR knows the team needed more time to affect the changes, yet ignored that fact and laid down the penalty anyway.  I feel as though Bowyer and company have gotten the shaft on this.  I hope that this penalty is over turned and that the 33 team bounces back to have a great Chase.

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