JGR teams face penalties for oil pans
“Our guys thought they would bring it to the race track and [NASCAR would say], ‘Hey, no issues and go ahead and run it,’" Gibbs said. “Clearly, it should have been a whole, separate issue. It was our responsibility and we messed it up.
“It wasn’t an illegal part you’re trying to sneak through. It’s a new part and we should have done it differently. … There’s a lot of parts and pieces that you’ll bring and run it through and they’ll look at it and [say], ‘Yeah, you’re good, go on in.’"
Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said Friday that whether the oil pans were legal or illegal was immaterial because they weren’t approved. Gibbs said Sunday he believes the eventual penalty would be harsher if the parts were illegal.
Darby said NASCAR would review the violation Monday or Tuesday, but that a points penalty is unlikely.
“People are saying it was [illegal] weight and a bunch of other things – that’s not the case," Gibbs said. “If that was the case, they would come down on you heavy."
Gibbs said the team plans to submit the oil pan for approval and hopes it will be approved.
“It’s one of those things, you should have submitted it and we didn’t do that," Gibbs said. “It’s not an illegal part. We just didn’t go through the right process. … There’s a lot of parts to these cars, and technically all are supposed to be submitted in one form or another.
“But NASCAR kind of knows how you do things and work it through. We feel bad we didn’t handle it the right way."
06/18/11 The Joe Gibbs Racing teams of #18-Kyle Busch, #11-Denny Hamlin and #20-Joey Logano all face possible penalties after an issue was discovered in inspection Friday morning at Michigan before practice began. John Darby, Cup series director, said that all three Gibbs cars had oil pans that had not been submitted for approval before competition. "We had them pull (those) off and put what we're accustomed to, what has been submitted back on their cars,'' Darby said. All three teams face possible penalties for the infraction. "Chances are great (a penalty) wouldn't involve points,'' Darby said Hampton Roads
06/18/11 Joe Gibbs Racing had unapproved- and unusually heavy – oil pans seized from its three NASCAR Sprint Cup cars Friday morning at Michigan International Speedway. Officially, the issue was that the oil pans had not been submitted for approval by NASCAR, a standard procedure for the thousands of parts and pieces on race cars. But a bigger issue ultimately might be weight. While a standard NASCAR Sprint Cup oil pan weighs about 4 pounds, the three taken off the Gibbs cars weighed an estimated 20-30 pounds apiece. Competitors contacted by SPEED.com and FOXSports.com said the heavy oil pans would allow the teams to remove weight elsewhere in the car and put it low and on the front of the car, which could provide a handling advantage, perhaps a substantial one. Officials did not penalize JGR at the track but said in a statement, "NASCAR will discuss early next week if there will be any additional penalties assessed to these three teams."(SPEED)