NASCAR will hammer engine cheaters

NASCAR considers tampering with the engine seals a major offense that will result in a penalty of “a minimum of 100 championship driver and truck owner points," according to a bulletin posted in the Camping World Truck Series garage today.

NASCAR added wording to its harshest penalty provision to include any alteration, modification or repair of any part that has been “sealed" by NASCAR in addition to the existing wording about altering or changing anything previously certified.

NASCAR also added that it could confiscate race equipment as a penalty for messing with a sealed engine. Other potential penalties would be fines, disqualification, probation and suspension.

NASCAR is implementing an engine rule for the Truck and Nationwide series in hopes of limiting costs. Not including Daytona and Talladega, teams will not be allowed to use new engines in four consecutive events. Once a team uses an old engine in an event, it can use a new one for each of the next three events it enters.

NASCAR will use a seal to prevent any refurbishing of the engine between events, although teams will be allowed to remove the oil pan and, theoretically, change some bearings.