NASCAR slams cheating Earnhardt team
NASCAR suspended crew chief Tony Eury Jr. through the race at Infineon Speedway (six points races), fined him $100,000 and docked Dale Earnhardt Jr. 100 driver points and the team 100 owner points.
The team had said that they used some old pieces that were used in the development of the car and will appeal the severity of the penalty.
"It was just wrong," Pemberton said Wednesday prior to the Nextel Pit Crew Challenge. "I can't weigh in whether I thought it was intentional. There's no such thing as an old piece. This car isn't that old to have a lot of old pieces laying around."
The car got through pre-qualifying inspection but did not get through pre-race inspection. Could the team have changed the brackets between those inspection times?
"I doubt that because they were sealed on the car in the right positions," Pemberton said. "What brought it to light was the fact of the extreme wing angle in prerace inspection. I don't know [how it was done]. All I know is that it was wrong. … We'll see what comes out of this as far as our procedures."
NASCAR had warned teams not to mess with the car of tomorrow, but Pemberton said this was part of the ramped up penalties that started at Daytona earlier this year.
"We had warned people for the entire year," Pemberton said. "This falls in line with everything we've done since the beginning of the season." Scenedaily.com
05/16/07 Tony Eury, Jr. spoke with PRN’s Garage Pass concerning the punishment NASCAR leveled on him and the DEI #8 team.
What is your reaction to the penalties? “It was not a performance deal, we documented wind tunnel reports to show that, but the fact of the matter is it was not a NASCAR approved part. It was an honest mistake, but it was a big mistake. From my standpoint, I think it’s pretty crazy if you compare it to some of the other things that have happened over the year.
Will you appeal? “Yeah I’m going to appeal it, just for the severity of the penalty. I know the part was wrong, but six weeks and a hundred grand that’s kind of ridiculous. Three years ago it would have a two thousand dollar fine."
05/15/07 NASCAR announced today that the No. 8 Chevrolet team in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series has been penalized and fined for rule violations committed last week at Darlington Raceway.
The No. 8 team was found to have violated Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules), and 20-3.1.3B (the NASCAR-approved upper and lower rear wing mounting brackets must not be modified to obtain a rear-wing angle of less than zero degrees or more than 16 degrees) of the 2007 NASCAR rule book.
Crew chief Tony Eury Jr., has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until July 4, 2007 which includes this weekend’s NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge and the next six NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events. He has also been placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2007. Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been penalized with the loss of 100 Championship Driver points. Car owner Teresa Earnhardt has been penalized with the loss of 100 Championship Owner points.
The violations were found during pre-race inspection on May 12.