NASCAR Penalizes No. 83
Red Bull Racing Team’s No. 83 car and driver Brian Vickers lost 150 points each in their respective standings after infractions found in post-race inspection Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR ruled that the No. 83, chosen for random inspection after an 11th-place finish, had “exterior sheet metal (that) did not meet the specified minimum thickness.” Crew chief Kevin Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad were suspended indefinitely, with Hamlin receiving a $100,000 fine.
“As a team we accept full responsibility for the infractions regarding the No. 83’s Martinsville car and will not appeal NASCAR’s ruling,” said Jay Frye, the team’s general manager and vice president. “This approach to racing is against the values of Red Bull Racing Team, and the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the situation ensuring it does not happen again. It is a privilege to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and we are taking this penalty seriously.”
Research and development director Randy Cox will assume crew chief responsibilities this weekend at Atlanta. Cox served as the No. 83 crew chief for the final four races of the 2007 season.
The penalty dropped Vickers from 15th to 17th in the driver standings, and the No. 83 fell two spots to 18th in car owner points.
posted by Bull Rider at 10:46 AM
19 Comments:
I'm really gonna cry! First thing I do every morning is check Jayski..I saw the team could be penalized..I ran and woke my sister up (scared her to death too haha) and freaked out on her. Not a good way to start the day! lol
That sounds like the stiffest penalty NASCAR has done all year. That's what happens when you mess with NASCAR. They get the last laugh...
What a shame! Maybe NASCAR should just assign cars randomly the day before the race that way they can be sure everyone is doing the same thing.
This really sucks. I know that every team out there looks for an edge. Since we aren't in the chase I guess they figured they could roll the dice. The problem is we are going to be dealing with this for the rest of the year and the beginning of next year.
Hopefully this will turn out to be a positive for the team. Get a little motivation to prove themselves. A few strong finishes at the end of the year would take some momentum into 2009.
All business this weekend at ATL.
I sure hope that the 83 team can shake this off and have some strong races at the end of the year. They have been doing great this year, and they don't want to go into the off season on a low note. Go get em at Atlanta, Brian!
If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
This wasn't "looking for an edge"; this was blatant disregard for known regulations. They definitely have a lot to prove now. I hope they can step it up and come out of this a better team.
I have a feeling that the 84 team had to be doing the same thing. Thankfully they didn't get caught or else that would have knocked the 84 team out of the top 35 going into next year and that would have been a disaster
I do not think the 84 would be doing this also.....they use all different team members to put their cars together! The way it sounds.....not too many on the 83 team knew about it. The whole shop is upset!!
I don't have any problems with the 83 team trying to push the boundaries of the box. It just seems silly that you would do it at Martinsville where speeds are so low that a little bit of weight isn't going to make that much difference. Daytona, Talledega, Atlanta.....try it.
I wonder how many cars get pulled for the full scale "rub down" by Nascar every week.
So, somebody explain this to me:
Isn't there a minimum weight requirement for the car? If you take the weight off the sheet metal, don't you have to add it somewhere else to meet the minimum requirement? Isn't each car weighed before each race?
ncsuredbull, I believe I read they take one car each week.
Anon, I am almost positive both the 83 and 84 cars are built by the same people. Once they get to the track two different groups setup the cars but back at the shop I am sure it is a collective effort.
It really is not that big of deal unless they lose Hamlin and Smokstad for the beginning of next year. The only other thing lost is a chance at 13th in points but that was already looking slim. I am sure a ton of other cars were doing the same thing as the 83 as it was stated that this is almost undetectable unless they cut apart the car like they did with the 83 because the edges of the sheetmetal were the right thickness just the middle area was not.
Redbull Team and Brian Vicker..... i wanted to say man i thought we had it in the bag at around lap 400. Brian was coming up thru the field and i believe he was going to win the race and give me bragging right on the way home. I do want to say Good luck for next week and your fans are not worried about Nascar penalizes the 83..... we know you are an awesome driver and I cant wait to start bragging on how your winning ever week
Your number one Fan
as to the last comment, weight is not an issue. all cars have to meet a minimum weight requirement. moving weight from the top of car ie the roof panels to the lower parts of the car will help the car handle better making it a perfect idea for martinsville where handling is everything.
They all get put on the scales and have to weigh x amount. Taking weight from the sides and relocating at a lower center of gravity in the left side can make a big difference at flat track like Martinsville where forward bite is critical. Still wasn't a smart move, but at the same time, it seems kinda fishy this was the 'random' car chosen for teardown. Hmmm
Seems like NASCAR has had it out for RB since the beginning & were just waiting for this opportunity to nail 'em. Not that what they did was right but I doubt they are the only team doing it!!
Here is a good blog that explains the science behind what the 83 team got penalized for.
http://stockcarscience.com/blog/
It wasn't long ago that I thought Sisius radio wasn't talking enough about RBR and how good they were doing....now I've heard enough on how BAD they are for what they did!!! From Mon. night and still going on.....they haven't quit, every call in and every host has not stop talking about RBR. They claim that Red Bull will be watched for a long time now, they will have a black cloud hanging over their heads. I hope something "new" happens this weekend that will take the talk off Red Bull unless it's a win for us!
Go Red Bull Wouldn't that be awesome
That sucks indeed! Why penalize?
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