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Daytona 500 - Practice Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet SSHere’s a bunch of words that could have been said with our headline…..

National Motorsports Appeals Panel Statement

(April 16, 2015)

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered the appeal of a P5 penalty issued on March 31, 2015 to Richard Childress (owner), Ryan Newman (driver), Lucas Lambert (crew chief), James Bender (tire technician) and Philip Surgen (race engineer) relative to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicle #31 at Auto Club Speedway.

The penalty concerns the following sections in the 2015 NASCAR rule book:

12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing
20.16: Wheels and tires
A. Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted.
20.16.2: Tires
F. Modifications to the tires, by treatment or any other means, will not be permitted.

12.5.3.5.2: Minimum P5 Penalty Options (includes all four points below):

A. Loss of 50 championship driver and owner points, regardless of whether the violation occurred during a Championship race or not
B. $75,000-$125,000 fine
C. Suspension for the next six series Championship Races, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that time period, for the crew chief and any other team members as determined by NASCAR
D. Probation through the end of the calendar year for all suspended members, or for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty notice if that period spans across two consecutive seasons

12.5.3.5.3: P5 Level infractions detected during post-race inspection:
If the infraction is detected during post-race inspection, then the following penalty elements will be added to those listed previously in this section:
A. Loss of an additional 25 Championship driver and owner points; regardless of whether it was a Championship Race or not
B. Loss of an additional $50,000

The original penalty assessed included a $125,000 ($75,000 plus $50,000) fine, six-race suspension and probation through Dec. 31 to Lambert; six-race suspension and probation through Dec. 31 to both Bender and Surgen; and the loss of 75 (50 plus 25) championship car owner and 75 (50 plus 25) championship driver points to both Childress and Newman.

Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:

1. The Appellants violated the Rule or Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice and it is a P5 level violation.
2. The Panel amends the original Penalty levied by NASCAR because there is no written explanation of what constitutes a post-race inspection. Therefore the Penalty elements added under Section 12.5.3.5.3. are removed and the Penalty adjusted to:
-Loss of 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Car Owner points for Richard Childress.
-Loss of 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Driver points for Ryan Newman.
-$75,000 fine. Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for crew chief Lucas Lambert.
– Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for Tire Technician James Bender.
-Suspended for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Races, plus any non-Championship Races or Special Events which might occur during that time period. Placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31 for Race Engineer Philip Surgen.

The panel consisted of the following three individuals:
Mr. John Capels
Mr. Hunter Nickell
Mr. Dale Pinilis

The Appellants have the right to appeal the decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer in accordance with Section 15 of the NASCAR rule boo

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sprintmediatour_mwr_013014_waltripCORNELIUS, N.C. – Michael Waltrip Racing today announced personnel changes to its two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup operation, which include the reassignment of its crew chiefs.

Effective immediately, Brian Pattie will become the crew chief for the No. 55 Toyota Camry driven by David Ragan. Billy Scott will become the crew chief for the No. 15 Toyota Camry driven by Clint Bowyer.

Pattie has been the crew chief for the No. 15 with Bowyer since the team was established in 2012. He has scored three wins with the team, and finished second in the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup and seventh in 2013.

Scott has been the crew chief of the No. 55 since August 2013, and previously served under Rodney Childers as that team’s lead engineer.

Additional changes include a reorganization of lead, secondary and support engineers for each team. Car chiefs, road mechanics and pit crews will remain with their originally assigned teams.

“Our goal is to best position the 15 and 55 teams for a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup,” said co-owner Rob Kauffman. “MWR has an enormous amount of bright, motivated and quality people working to solve the endless challenges inherent to racing. We have won poles and races, we have made the Chase and competed for a championship with this core group of personnel. We just felt it was time to shake things up a bit to try and spark fresh ideas and more consistent results. There are 12 races left before the 2015 Chase field is set and we plan to be a part of it.”

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1 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet
2 5 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
3 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet
4 11 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
5 1 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet
6 19 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota
7 14 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet
8 15 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet
9 10 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota
10 8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota
11 20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet
12 27 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford
13 12 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Chevrolet
14 4 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta/Penn State Chevrolet
15 2 19 Carl Edwards ARRIS Toyota
16 18 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet
17 7 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford
18 29 33 Ty Dillon(i) Yuengling Chevrolet
19 6 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet
20 30 51 Justin Allgaier SEM Chevrolet
21 28 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
22 23 15 Clint Bowyer Jack Link’s/Big Machine Records Toyota
23 21 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
24 33 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford
25 32 40 Landon Cassill(i) Interstate Moving Services Chevrolet
26 34 7 Alex Bowman Accell Construction Chevrolet
27 35 38 David Gilliland MDS Ford
28 39 35 Cole Whitt Ford
29 38 98 Josh Wise Ford
30 36 34 Brett Moffitt # Dockside Logistics Ford
31 16 27 Paul Menard Schrock/Menards Chevrolet
32 41 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Burger King Toyota
33 40 26 Jeb Burton # Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota
34 31 46 Michael Annett Sherwin Williams Chevrolet
35 42 32 Travis Kvapil(i) Visone RV Parts Ford
36 37 23 JJ Yeley(i) Dr Pepper/Heinz Toyota
37 22 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet
38 26 47 AJ Allmendinger Clorox Chevrolet
39 13 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet
40 43 62 Brendan Gaughan(i) Chevrolet
41 24 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Medallion Bank Ford
42 17 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Zest Ford
43 25 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Friday, June 05, 2015

1. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 177.599 mph.
2. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 177.550 mph.
3. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 177.522 mph.
4. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 177.211 mph.
5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 177.200 mph.
6. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.526 mph.
7. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 175.967 mph.
8. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 177.676 mph.
THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY #361 CHRIS BUESCHER – POCONO PREVIEW
9. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 177.385 mph.
10. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 177.193 mph. Continue reading “2015 NASCAR CUP SERIES POCONO STARTING LINEUP – KURT BUSCH ON POLE”

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TSS_NSCS_EarnhardtJr_VL_050315LONG POND, Pa. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is accustomed to being in select company. This weekend, he seeks to join NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond as the only drivers to win three consecutive races at Pocono Raceway.

But Earnhardt, who turned Friday’s fourth-fastest practice lap in preparation for Sunday’s Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), knows three in a row is a lot to ask.

“It’s difficult to win one,” Earnhardt said. “We won those two races by having some great pit strategy. Steve (former crew chief Letarte) got real aggressive on his pit calls and I think that’s what definitely is going to put you in position to win.”

Earnhardt says the nature of racing at Pocono gives crew chiefs with cars strong enough to lead the race, the option of employing unusual pit strategies. This year, those calls will be up to his first-year crew chief Greg Ives.

“You kind of call this race in reverse,” Earnhardt said. “The tires are pretty tough here and durable, so there’s not a whole lot of fall-off and you can call a race sort of like a road course: Put yourself up front and it makes it pretty difficult to get around you if you’ve got a good car.

“Still, everything’s got to fall in the right place to allow you to make those choices. It worked out great for us last year. (But) we also had a fast car. We ran pretty well, but there were about eight of us in either of those races who could have won.”

If any factor is in Earnhardt’s favor, it’s Hendrick Motorsports recent run of success at Pocono. Hendrick has won the last five Sprint Cup events on the 2.5-mile triangle with Jeff Gordon (2012), Jimmie Johnson (2013), Kasey Kahne (2013) and Earnhardt (2014 sweep).

“We’ve got four fast cars,” Earnhardt said. “This is a horsepower race track where engines can make a difference and I feel like over the last several years, we’ve had one of the best engine programs in the sport. Your car really, really shines here and we’ve got some of the best equipment in the garage.”

Seven drivers, including Johnson (2004) and Denny Hamlin (2006) have won both Sprint Cup events at Pocono in the same season. But success one season hardly ensures success the next. Johnson went nine years after his sweep at Pocono and Hamlin has been up and down since 2006, although he did post consecutive victories in 2009 and 2010 Sprint Cup races.

“I kind of put sweeping here in the same box as sweeping at Daytona or Talladega,” Johnson said. “There are just so many circumstances out of your control at this track. … There are always long green-flag runs and varying strategies. The teams that don’t have the raw speed to race for the win will roll the dice. There are a lot of moving targets. It’s not just a straight-up downforce-style race and I think that increases the difficulty to win here regularly.”