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NASCAR comes down hard on Gibbs operation
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Published: August 21, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn.
Trying to fool NASCAR officials is no laughing matter, as Joe Gibbs' Nationwide crews have learned.
Gibbs, a veteran team owner, was appropriately apologetic yesterday for the stiff penalties that NASCAR slapped his teams and drivers with, for trying to hide true engine horsepower from chassis-dyno inspectors after Saturday's Nationwide race at Michigan.
Drivers Joey Logano and Tony Stewart were both hit with 150-point penalties and put on probation for the rest of the year. Gibbs was hit with two 150-point penalties. Crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff were each fined $50,000 and suspended indefinitely.
NASCAR went a step further and also suspended indefinitely car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson, and crewman Toby Bigelow from the Logano-Ratcliff team, and suspended indefinitely car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek from the Stewart-Rogers team.
NASCAR also put both Toyota teams on probation the rest of the season.
Stewart finished third in the race, which was won by Ford's Carl Edwards, and Logano finished seventh.
Gibbs said he planned even more penalties himself for the men involved, which could well affect that title bid.
Gibbs said that "the incident goes against everything we stand for as an organization."
And he was clearly angry: "First, we want to apologize to NASCAR, all of our partners, all of our families, and all of our fans for the unfortunate incident that took place this past weekend in Michigan with our two Nationwide teams. A poor decision was made by some key members of our organization, and 100 percent of the blame rests with us.
"In 17 years we have never had any representative of Joe Gibbs Racing knowingly act outside of NASCAR's rules, and that is something we consider essential to how we operate on a daily basis.
"What we have determined is that these individuals involved used extremely poor judgment in attempting to alter the results of NASCAR's dyno test following Saturday's Nationwide Series race in Michigan. Although in no way was anything done that might have altered the race outcome, these JGR employees attempted to circumvent the NASCAR rule book and that is unacceptable.
"We take full responsibility and accept the penalties NASCAR has levied against us.
"We had come to the conclusion we would add to any NASCAR imposed penalties with the minimum being suspension for the remainder of the season for those involved, including our two Nationwide Series crew chiefs. There will also be an additional monetary fine beyond the amount announced by NASCAR, which will be the responsibility of those involved.
"We are, however, disappointed NASCAR chose to place our drivers on probation, as they had no knowledge or involvement of this incident.
"The expectations we set for everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing begins with me, and I personally apologize to NASCAR, our partners and our fans for the negative light this situation has cast upon all of us."
Lee White, Toyota's racing boss, said that the penalties were harsh but said he still supported the Gibbs operation.
"Over the past several days we have had numerous conversations with Joe and J.D. Gibbs relative to the infractions at Michigan International Speedway in the Nationwide Series post-race inspection," White said.
Officially, NASCAR said that "both the 18 (driven at Michigan by Joe Logano) and 20 (driven by Tony Stewart) cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 8-9 (competitive analysis -- from time to time, NASCAR may determine, in the interest of competition, that it is necessary or appropriate to undertake an analysis of the performance capabilities of a car, car part, component or equipment.
"The Competitor shall take whatever steps are requested by NASCAR Officials for this purpose.
"NASCAR also has the right to seal or impound cars, car parts, components and/or equipment for this purpose); 12-4-Q (1): (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used that do not conform to NASCAR rules, detailed in Section 20A of the 2008 NASCAR Rule Book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event, or is not required for the normal functional operation of the race car, or has been altered to detract from or compromise its integrity or effectiveness, whether operational or not); 12-4-K: (when NASCAR Officials mandate inspection during the Event, if any car, car parts, components, and/or equipment which have been used in the Event are taken from the racing premises without permission of a NASCAR Official, or are tampered with by any member of the team or anyone associated with the team: Magnetic spacer attached under the gas pedal with the intent of compromising the chassis dynamometer test)."
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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