2014 Daytona 500

Thank you for the clarification but in all the racing I have been exposed to the rules are very strict with no leeway. Even if he drove 2 inches under power to enter his pit stall then he should have been penalized. It is not like the team did not have the option to push him and lets not forget he was lucky to have the access opening in front of his stall or we would be discussing crew injuries or fatalities instead.

 

For the most part NASCAR allows drivers to get going in the right direction on pit road even if it means going the wrong way. At the 2003 Brickyard I was right at the pit stall for Dale Jarrett when he spun pulling into his pit stall and had to do a figure eight to get going the right direction and make his pit. No penalty.

Last wednesday at the Daytona practice I watched the #4 car pull out for practice but was stopped at the end of pit road due to the red flag crash and he turned around and drove all the back the wrong way down pit road back to the garage entrance.

One of the last Daytona races where they crashed crossing the finish line for the checkers several cars drove the wrong way back down pit road instead of going another lap to get to the garage.

A driver can't go the wrong way down pit road whenever he wants but NASCAR gives a lot of leeway under certain circumstances and it happens on occasion. Lots of room for judgement before a penalty would be called and not nearly as cut and dried as one would think it would be.

 

Very clear. Thank you.

It seems like NASCAR does its best to ensure races are settled on the track even if it means flexible rules governing details like driving the wrong way on pit lane.

 

About my only beef with NASCAR is their " flexible " rules and their inconstancies governing them.

I was at the Nationwide race on Saturday and they have a new rule where the cars can bump draft but not push or stay in contact for any length of time. Joey Coulter was having a great race running up front but got black flagged for pushing and had to serve a drive thru penalty which ruined his chances of a win.

Not long after that the camera zoomed in on Kyle Bush as he pushed a car half way down the back stretch and when the crowd saw it on the Jumbotron they were all yelling to black flag him as well but no penalty was called. The announcer tried to cover it by saying KB was pushing but the officials can't see everything so he got away with it. I find it funny that the whole stands saw him do it on camera yet the officials didn't make the same call they made on Joey Coulter.

 

I don't think they can protest.

 

That's awesome... Go Dale! ....both of them

 

But, heaven help the poor schmuck who's rear spoiler is 1/10,000th of a centimeter too
high. That's a finin and suspendin...

BHW

 

video footage of the NASCAR penalty office:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N55c_t0AlQ]That's a Paddlin' - YouTube[/ame]

 

NASCAR's past rulings on taking to pit road at speed to avoid a wreck - is if you don't work on the car, you're good. Since Casey did stop and work on the car, it invoked a penalty.

One thing I don't get.

Last year after richmond they came out and said they expect drivers to drive 100% all the time...then this year in NW they bring out a rule that says you can't????!! That said the "drive at 100%" all the time annoys me most.

 

What has always amazed me is how they make up rules on the spot.

A driver in qualifying will have his spoiler literally 1/10,000th of a centimeter too
high. The driver will get disqualified and shuffled to the back of the field. The
crew chief will be chastised, suspended or fined.

But, they'll let cars return to the races after one of the "big ones" with bodywork
missing, parts falling off, going 100MPH less than the rest of the field. The falling parts
or the wayward cars will usually cause another multi-car shunt, but NASCAR doesn't
have a problem with that all.

It's the bizarro world Jerry!

BHW

 

it's all about the show, bro!

 

+1

 

Its a matter of intent - for example Waltrip's truck race where the spoiler "fell" on the last lap, NASCAR noticed the parts holding it up had been hollowed - penalty.

The penalties in the past will often vary by whether a team is in a position to win a championship or not. A new team with a new driver might be told to "don't do this again", a team that should know better like the #48 will get smacked.

The goal is to make sure the championship isn't decided with illegal equipment in use. I really don't have an issue at all the inconsistent penalties for off track mistakes/intentional's with the car.

Paul Menard's team got away with quite a bit two years ago until they looked like they would make the chase - NASCAR had kept telling them not to do stuff for a few weeks prior almost in a row - points put them in contention - and whammo with the ban hammer.

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated after Daytona 500 victory | SI Wire

Apparently I'm not in the NASCAR region b/c my copy has an 18 yr old female Olympic gold medal winner on it...she's much better looking than Jr...so I'm ok with it.
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Let's be clear, NASCAR is a show.

It is not sport.

When asked all of the drivers, team owners and sponsors on such, nearly 100%
they respond "show".

Confusing NASCAR with relevant racing is akin to saying WWE is a real sport.

DIS is responding to dwindling crowds and declining TV numbers by reducing the
amount of seating at the track, completely doing away with the Tiny Lund grandstand
on the back straight.

BHW

 

Here here.