Author: SM Staff

NASCAR has now issued its verdict regarding those extraordinary heavy oil pans confiscated from all three of the Toyota Camrys owned by Joe Gibbs Racing, (JGR), prior to the start of the NASCAR weekend at the Michigan International Raceway. It turned out to be a very expensive week for Coach Gibbs. From Pocono to Michigan, a period of five days, the tab has now hit $175,000 in NASCAR issued penalties.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]This expensive process started following the June 12th race at the Pocono Raceway where JGR driver Kyle Busch finished third. However, a post race technical inspection indicated that the team’s Toyota had exceeded NASCAR’s official tolerances for body height. The left front of the Busch car was 1/16th of an inch too low. Crew chief Dave Rogers later speculated that the problem was based on a possible broken part sustained from racing on the aggressive Pocono Raceway.

None the less, the car was simply too low. The result was NASCAR fining Rogers $25,000 and, at the same time, docked Busch six driver’s championship points and docked Gibbs six owner’s championship points.

Now, fast forward to the Michigan International Raceway five days later. During a technical inspection, prior to the first scheduled practice session, it was discovered that the oil pans on all three of the Gibbs’ cars were unapproved parts.

Simply put, all parts on a Sprint Cup car has to be officially approved and registered by NASCAR before it can be used on the race track. If a team wants to try a new or different part, they must first submit it to NASCAR for approval.

When the unapproved oil pans were discovered, NASCAR inspectors informed JGR to remove and replace them with the approved part which they promptly did. However, later that morning, NASCAR took the process a little bit further by weighing them. A standard, approved, oil pan for a Sprint Cup car weighs approximately four pounds. The three pans, confiscated from the JGR cars, weighed in at 20 to 30 pounds each. The pans were taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center, in Concord-North Carolina, for a more detailed inspection.

Once the word got out, the conspiracy theorists went into overtime. Many of them pointed out that the heavier oil pans would allow the teams to move their car weights elsewhere, such as the front of the car, thereby creating a possible advantage in the car’s overall handling package.

In the aftermath of that procedure came more penalties levied against JGR. Crew Chiefs Dave Rogers-car #18, Mike Ford-car #11 and Greg Zipadelli-car #20 were fined $50,000 each and placed on probation until December 31st, 2011.

Additionally the three JGR car chiefs: Chris Gillin-car #11, Wesley Sherrill-car #18 and Jason Shapiro-car #20, along with JGR Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar, were placed on probation until the end of the calendar year.

No driver or owner points were docked by NASCAR from this penalty decision. You’re likely to hear some comments on that issue this weekend during the Sprint Cup race at the Infineon Raceway. The line of thinking here appears to lie in the fact that the JGR Toyotas, with the unapproved oil pans, never actually went out on the race track. That’s basically a fair and understanding decision.

None the less team owner “Coach” Joe Gibbs is looking at unexpected expenditures of $175,000 accrued within a period of five days. The good news here lies in the fact that JGR driver Denny Hamlin won the Michigan race. With that comes a check worth $202,200. That will help Gibbs cover the NASCAR fines will some change leftover.

NASCAR has handed down penalties for Joe Gibbs Racing’s illegal oil pans discovered during opening day inspection last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

The oil pans were not submitted to NASCAR for prior approval, which was one of the infractions cited in the press release announcing the penalties.

NASCAR confiscated the oil pans off of the No. 11, No. 18 and No. 20 teams before the opening practice sessions last weekend and followed up today with a $50,000 fine to the crews of the teams: Mike Ford (11), Dave Rogers (18), and Greg Zipadelli (20). All three crew chiefs, as well as the car chiefs of the cars (Chris Gillin-11, Wesley Sherrill-18 and Jason Shapiro-20) and Jimmy Makar, the senior vice president of racing operations at Joe Gibbs Racing, were placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]Apparently the answer is yes. According to multiple published reports, in a very short amount of time, it appears that Dietrich Mateschitz, the owner of the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota teams as well as the internationally famous Red Bull drink, has made the decision to leave NASCAR racing at the end of the current racing season.

While no official announcement has been released, there were some reports, from “The Associated Press,” that said Thomas Ueberall, Red Bull executive in charge of their international motorsports operation, was at last Sunday’s race in Michigan and reportedly informed “industry executives” of the impending decision.

In the days that followed, Red Bull Racing did release an official statement that read: “Red Bull Racing is currently seeking outside investors as we evaluate next steps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. We are not at liberty to comment on details while negotiations are underway. Red Bull fully supports NASCAR for the remainder of the 2011 season as we fight for victories and a position in the 2011 Chase For The Sprint Cup.”

One of those potential investment teams are rumored to be led by Jay Frye, who joined Red Bull Racing as their General Manager back in 2008. Adding fuel to the fire of this rumor is additional speculation that says Mark Martin will play a prominent role, both on and off the track, in this new operation. The rumor mill also says the new team owners will be powered by engines from Hendrick Motorsports which also indicates a move from Toyota to Chevrolet.

There is an element of sense to that when you stop and think about it. Martin will be leaving the #5 Hendrick Motorsports ride at the end of this season. He has been very tight lipped about future plans, but has made it clear that he is not retiring and will be driving “something” in 2012.

Ironically, the Hendrick ride Martin will be vacating this year will be occupied by Kasey Kahne who is currently driving the second Red Bull Toyota on a one year contract while waiting for his new ride in 2012.

The second Red Bull driver, Brian Vickers, has been with the organization since its inception back in 2007. His contract with the team runs out at the end of the season and, in recent weeks, indicated that he considered himself to be a free agent and free to talk to other teams.

Also floating around the NASCAR garage area is a rumor that states former Sprint Cup team owner Ray Evernham may be involved in the future of these Red Bull teams. However, Evernham recently made it clear that he has no knowledge of a potential ownership status with the Red Bull teams. Evernham has been working with Rick Hendrick, in the area of auto dealerships, and would prefer spending his time becoming more involved with Hendrick Motorsports.

In a quote, made to Fox Sports, Evernham commented on a potential Red Bull deal and said “it would depend on the deal and it would depend on whether it was something Mr Hendrick would want me to do. I just don’t have the desire to be on the road 40 weekends per year.”

The success of any motorsports operation is based on performance levels as well as the process of crunching numbers. Sadly, for Red Bull Racing, the history here has displayed low performance numbers along with a high cost of operation that comes with owning and sponsoring a two car team in the Sprint Cup Series.

The operation began in 2007 with drivers Brian Vickers and A J Allmendinger. It was apparent early on that this organization was going to begin in a slow growth mode. Vickers entered 34 races that year and failed to qualify for 13 of them. On the track he only had one top five finish, along with five top tens, and finished a dismal 38th in the points.

Allmendinger’s debut numbers were even worse. He missed 19 races, due to qualifying speeds, and finished 43d in the final points standings. Allmendinger was released the following year and replaced by ex Red Bull Formula One driver Scott Speed. To be fair, a seemingly good idea never materialized and Speed’s release from the team came at the end of last year and has become the source of a lawsuit between the driver and his former team.

The fortunes of Red Bull Racing took an upswing during the 2009 season when Vickers gave the team their first ever Sprint Cup win. He backed that effort with four top five finishes, 13 top tens, won six poles and raised his average finish ratio to a respectable 17.3. He also got his team into the line up for the Sprint Cup Chase that year.

Sadly the team took a staggering blow during the 2010 season. After making 11 starts in the new season, Vickers had to withdraw from his driving duties due to serious medical issues. It was eventually announced that the medical malady were blood clots severe enough to warrant heart surgery.

Red Bull Racing somehow soldiered on during last season. They replaced Vickers, in their #83 Toyota, with a variety of drivers while hoping that Scott Speed would show some signs of performance life in their second team car. It turned out to be a very long year.

When it was revealed that team owner Rick Hendrick was looking for a one year ride for driver Kasey Kahne for the 2011 season, Red Bull Racing was only too happy to jump on the offer and accommodate him. Meanwhile a healthier Vickers was now back at full strength and ready to resume his NASCAR career. Red Bull Racing was hoping for their biggest season ever.

Unfortunately, the anticipation of the 2011 season seems to be slow in materializing. In 15 starts both teams are still looking for their first win of the year. Kahne has two top five finishes, five top tens and is 19th in the current points standings. Vickers has only been able to collect one top five, five top tens and is 24th in the points.

In direct comparison are the numbers from Red Bull’s other team ownership effort: their two teams in Formula One racing. That operation began in 2004 and has managed to improve with each passing year. This was especially true of the 2010 season when Sebastian Vettel won the F1 driver’s championship, along with five grand prixs, while team mate Mark Webber won four grand prixs. So far in 2011, Vettel has a healthy lead in the points and appears to be on his way to a second title while Webber is third in the championship standings. Red Bull also has a healthy lead in the coveted constructor’s points championship.

Compared to the F1 numbers, Red Bull Racing’s NASCAR operation has to seem like a complicated jigsaw puzzle with some pieces missing.

There is, of course, going to be some collateral damage from Red Bull’s departure from NASCAR. Chief among them is a loss of jobs once occupied by the members of these two teams. There has already been reports that said some of the Red Bull crew members were having private conversations with other team owners during the Michigan weekend.

This news will likely cast a dark shadow over the potential career of Red Bull development driver Cole Whitt. Already being referred to as NASCAR’s next possible real deal, Whitt has been driving a Stacy Compton owned Chevrolet, sponsored by Red Bull and Fuel Doctor, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. So far the young phenom has a pair of top five finishes along with five top tens and is ranked second in the series’ points only 20 markers from the top. He’s also leading the Sunoco Rookie Of The Year standings as well. Many observers feel his first series win is literally around the corner. Here’s hoping there will be a way for Red Bull to continue to back his very bright future.

The shame of this news is the fact that Red Bull is such a strong influence in the international motorsports community as well as many other sports. Here’s hoping they will find a way to maintain some sort of connection with NASCAR racing perhaps even as sponsors of their original two teams if referenced investor opportunities pan out. After all, sponsoring two cars is a lot cheaper than owning them.

Over the previous weekend we watched a heavily favored championship contender finally locate victory lane again not to mention finally finding the top ten in the points standings. Oh yeah, there may also be a temporary, but highly significant, rise in the cost of oil pans for Toyota Camry’s in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]HOORAH to Denny Hamlin for parking his FED EX/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the victory lane of Michigan International Raceway following the Heluva Good Sour Cream Dips 400. After winning eight races last year, Hamlin and this team was heavily favored to be a major contender for this year’s Chase For The Championship. But the team got off to a horrible start and last Sunday finally found their first win of the year.

However, the team was showing some signs of regaining their strength and clawed their way back to 12th in the points. That Fed Ex special delivery to victory lane allowed Hamlin to elevate the team to ninth in the standings and it appears that this pre-season favorite may be back on track again.

Hamlin led the final eight laps of the race and collected $202,200 in prize money. That’s a good thing because team owner Joe Gibbs may need some of that money to pay the anticipated cost increase of three oil pans confiscated by NASCAR last Friday.

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WAZZUP with those heavy weight oil pans confiscated from all three of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars last Friday? This situation began during a pre-practice NASCAR tech inspection when it was determined that the oil pans were unapproved parts. Basically what that means is: all parts on a Sprint Cup car has to be on an official list maintained by the NASCAR technical officials. The Gibbs teams replaced the oil pans with the approved models and were allowed to go out onto the track for practice. While the possibility of some sort of penalty might be coming towards the Gibbs organization, NASCAR officials honestly didn’t anticipate that penalty might include the loss of driver and owner points.

However, by Friday afternoon the plot to this story developed a very interesting twist. The standard size oil pan for a Sprint Cup car weighs approximately four pounds. The weight of the three pans removed from the Gibbs cars weighed between 20 to 30 pounds. It was theorized by many that these unusually heavy pans could allow the Gibbs teams to remove or relocate the standard weights on the car thereby creating an unfair handling advantage.

It’s likely that a decision regarding penalties will be handed down by NASCAR on Tuesday. It’s also likely there will be a highly significant rise in the cost of oil pans.

HOORAH to a great question raised relative this issue during a media press conference last Friday. JGR driver Denny Hamlin was asked if he thought “Fed Ex delivered the wrong pans to the race shop.” Hamlin just replied “Nope.”

HOORAH for the fact that this latest round of embarrassment for Joe Gibbs Racing can’t, in no way, be blamed on the behavior of Kyle Busch.

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WAZZUP with the disappointing finishes from all four of the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet’s? This is especially true of Jimmie Johnson and his #48 team. “Jimmie Five Time” has never one a race at Michigan. He still hasn’t. Early on, after only nine laps into the race, Johnson suffered an uncharacteristic, and unassisted, spin out. He left the pits a lap down but with a broken sway bar. The next caution flag, and the lucky dog pass, put him back on the lead lap at least for a moment. But that broken sway bar had to be replaced on pit road and Johnson now found himself at the back of the pack two laps down. He had to settle for a 27th place finish and fell from second to fifth in the points

WAZZUP with the eerie darkness in the eyes of crew chief Chad Knaus when these things happen to his team? Sometimes he resembles some evil character in a modern day horror movie. I’ve often wondered if you can turn into a pillar of salt just by looking into those dark pupils.

Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon was basically not a factor at all in the race and finished 17th. The lone Hendrick bright spot was Mark Martin’s ninth.

But WAZZUP with the Hendrick Motorsports bright spot becoming somewhat involved with robbing team mate Dale Earnhardt Jr of another top ten finish? The unintentional incident saw Martin’s car sailing up high on the backstretch directly in front of Earnhardt who scraped the wall to avoid rear end contact. Unfortunately that wall contact involved some right front tire damage. The tire eventually blew and Earnhardt found himself scraping the wall again. Earnhardt was the class of the Hendrick field of cars but had to watch a sure fire top ten turn into a 21st place finish. He still remains third in the standings but, had this incident not have happened, he would have taken over second due to Johnson’s problem.

After the race Earnhardt raised more than a few eyebrows when he commented on being “pissed off” due to a careless act. Fear not Junior Nation fans, Mark Martin will make quick work of smoothing over the waters at Hendrick because that’s what a class act like Martin does.

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HOORAH to Roush Fenway Racing for their one-two finish in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Michigan. Carl Edwards passed team mate Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the waning laps for his 33d career win in the series.

HOORAH to Stenhouse for another strong Nationwide Series performance. How good is this kid getting? Remember last year when we all thought Jack Roush was going to fire him for wadding up too many race cars? What a difference a year makes.

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In some final thoughts this week HOORAH to team owner Jack Roush for a great observation regarding NASCAR’s “have at it boys” policy and his fellow team owner Richard Childress.

During a post race interview on Saturday, after his Fords finished one-two in the Nationwide Series race, Roush was asked about the altercation between Kyle Busch and Richard Childress, following the NASCAR Truck race at Kansas, and was specifically asked if he felt the Childress $150,000 fine was too high.

“It was pretty high,” Roush said adding “I guess that pretty much puts the nail in the coffin on the have at it boys.” Roush further suggested that maybe the big difference here was the fact that the Childress vs Busch incident wasn’t so much of a case of have at it boys but was more of a ” boy and a man” situation. “I am not sure, maybe that is different than the boys having at it. Kyle has been been pretty rough on my cars over a period of time and for Richard to stand up for himself is OK,” he said.

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HOORAH to the country music group Emerson Drive and the Acapella Chorus Team from the U.S. Army for outstanding renditions of “The National Anthem.” I’ve always admired acapella performances because I have a keen sense of how important perfect pitch and timing are to these performances. These guys were right on the mark last weekend.

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HOORAH for this week’s “Twitter” moments provided by Toyota driver Denny Hamlin. Participating in a fan chat fest Friday night, Hamlin was asked: “prior to becoming a full time race driver, what was the worst job you’ve ever had?” Hamlin replied: “I worked at a Subway( sandwich shop).” There has been no noted rebuttal comments from either fellow driver Carl Edwards, a Subway spokesman, or Jared the ultimate company representative.

During that same “Twitter” session a fan asked Hamlin: ” what’s the first thing you do in the morning after you wake up?” Hamlin replied: ” Pee ! ” This question came from a female fan and, surprisingly, there was an absence of the traditional question: boxer, briefs or commando?

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WAZZUP with the “Now Hiring” logo on the rear quarter panels of Carl Edwards’ AFLAC Ford? Okay, I know this is a promo for the team sponsor but you have to consider the coincidence of that logo being on the car at a time when Edwards is in contract negotiations with his team, is considered to be the number free agent from the 2011 silly season and is rumored to being courted by Joe Gibbs Racing.

I assume that AFLAC is “now hiring” insurance agents and not personal assistants for the duck.