So this is interesting...

[cake]

NASCAR has issued penalties, suspensions and fines to the #46 team [#146] in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions committed during last weekend’s event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.4A (engine exceeded the maximum engine size of 358.000 cubic inch displacement) of the 2009 NASCAR rule book. As a result, crew chief Charles Swing has been fined $200,000, suspended from the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship events, suspended from NASCAR until Aug. 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Driver Carl Long and owner Danielle Long have been penalized with the loss of 200 driver and 200 owner points, respectively, suspended from the next 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship events, suspended from NASCAR until Aug. 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.(NASCAR)


what i find funny is that Carl Long probly doesnt have $200,000 in his whole team. Nor does he have 200 owner/driver points.

And by the way he only went two laps in the race...

[Boneman]

Translation - small teams need not apply. NASCAR will throw out all of the "start and park" teams.

[Cara]

???

But Saturday nights race was a non points race so how can you dock someone points???

[cake]

cuz nascar can i guess

[andre]

They did the same thing with Junior Johnson in the 80's for an illegal motor. He had to ''sell'' his team to his wife, in order to bring the car back at the next few events. A little like Mayfield now.

I really really wonder what would happen if a top tier driver would srew up enough so it would call for a suspension what they would do, how they would manipulate the system, the language they would use to explain why they are not sending him home. This would be interesting.

[ancrdave]

NASCAR is coming down hard... Heard they found traces of Claritin-D in the gas...

[Winger]

Seems pretty harsh to me considering what has been done intentionally with some of the top teams. Here's the statement from Carl Long.

Statement from Carl and DeeDee regarding the recent suspension and fines:

"First of all I would like to wish Charles Swing, my crew chief, well. Since this incident he was admitted Monday night to a Georgia hospital with heart problems. He is a stay at home dad who loves to go racing. We purchased an engine from a reputable builder at the beginning of the season. We overheated the engine in practice and had to change it. We had the option to withdraw and go home before admitting it to inspection. Trusting that our blown engine wouldn't have any problems passing NASCAR tech, we submitted it and put our other motor in the car to get ready for the Showdown. As everyone knows it didn't pass tech. The rules are 358 cubic inches and ours is 358.17 cubic inches. The .17 is as wrong as if it would have been 400 cubic inches. This engine is 50 horsepower less than top teams but it was all that could be afforded. I would have never knowingly went to the race track with a big engine! This suspension has not only stopped me from racing, it has also hurt me with my everyday job. It's hard to make a living working at the race track when NASCAR will not let you in. I can only hope that the appeal board will see things differently than the ones that came up with this penalty. I don't consider myself a cheater. I am addicted to the worse drug ever...racing! Every dime we have been able to scrape up, we use to race, because we love the sport. It takes about a half million in equipment to be able to build an engine, so I have to rely on other people and this time it bit me. Thanks for supporting me in wherever this goes!

[AJ14]

Well , i guess rules are rules , just like Carl himself said . But damn !

[Jimmy McKinley]

OK, here's my freakin' rant on this whole thing.

Go back to 2006. Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe's, the 48, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus - brought a REALLY cheated-up race car to Daytona - think Smokey Yunick-cheated-up. There was a device inside the car, operated by the driver out on the track, that used a crank to jack up the rear glass to lay it practically flat, so that the car *FLEW* down the straights - took away the drag. Going into the corners, the driver could crank it back down, letting air get back to the spoiler, and downforce on the rear. I mean the car was FAST - sat on the pole and won the 125. The "infraction" was discovered in post-race tech after the qualifying race. What happened?? Knaus and Hendrick fined $50,000, 50 owner's points, and Johnson 50 driver's points, and Knaus suspended for the first four races. Johnson got to stay for the 500, went on to win the 500 that year, and ultimately, the championship. That WHOLE TEAM, transporter and all should have been kicked out of the race track - same way Smokey was back in '67 with the 15/16ths-scale Chevelle, and the whole team suspended for the first four races - not just the crew chief. You think Knaus wasn't calling the shots from outside the pit area somewheres? He wasn't "banned" from any tracks in those first four races, just "suspended from competing".

First of all, in Long's case Saturday, the engine that NA$CAR "found too big" was the first engine that Long had blown up in practice earlier in the day (or week, or something - I just read it was blown in practice). So they switched to a second engine. NA$CAR apparently takes *any* motor that gets blown up back to their R&D center to "see what happened to it". Long then only went three laps - in the NON-POINTS-PAYING QUALIFYING RACE attempting to *get into* the NON-POINTS-PAYING so-called "All Star" race - and *broke the second motor* as well, ending up dead last in that qualifying race. It was only Long's second attempt at trying to get into any race this year, having missed qualifying for the season opener at Daytona.

I think that *any* so-called REAL race fan should send *some* sort of donation to Carl Long and that team to help pay that fine. NA$CAR has really, REALLY gone too far with this "penalty" in trying to rid their "sport" (well, it's more entertainment nowadays, much like the WWE...) of the little guys and independent teams. The Wood Brothers, who've been in the sport almost since the beginning, are *barely* hanging on. It'll be a sad, sad day when all that's left are the four big teams.

[cake]

hate to think about it but if carl doesnt win the appeal then that fine will put them out of business.

[Jimmy McKinley]

just asaw that the team WILL be accepting donations through the Web site.

http://www.carl-long.com

If you're a REAL race fan, you should help Carl out. I hate for anyone to bein that situation bad enough that it puts him out work

[john tenney]

It's horrible and nobody can figure out why. Somebody must have pissed somebody off.

But it shows how little NASCAR cares about underdogs - they would never suspend Jr for 12 races!

[cake]

yea if they did that they would lose all kinds of money
but suspending carl long wont lose them anything
so they have no problem doing it

[Todd McCreary]

The rules are 358 cubic inches and ours is 358.17 cubic inches.

sheez. that's Bobby Riley head chamber cheating. .17ci over 8 cylinders is only ~.02ci per cylinder. is there anybody here who seriously thinks that was intentional on the part of the engine man?

[buttplugbob]

THROW THE BUM OUT!

[/buttplugbob]

[cake]

i doubt carl long has an engine man
he buys his motors used