NASCAR suspends four chiefs

By Mike Brudenell

Detroit Free Press

(MCT)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR jumped on the cheaters Tuesday when it suspended four Nextel Cup crew chiefs from competition, including Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500.

The penalties stem from infractions during Daytona 500 pole qualifying this past Sunday. All four crew chiefs can appeal the penalties, NASCAR said.

Two of the four - Ken Francis (Evernham Motorsports), crew chief of the No. 9 Dodge of Kasey Kahne, and Robbie Reiser (Roush Racing), crew chief of the No. 17 Ford of Matt Kenseth - were suspended for four races and fined $50,000.

Rodney Childers - (Valvoline Evernham Racing), crew chief of the No. 10 Dodge of Scott Riggs, and Josh Browne (Evernham Motorsports), crew chief of the No. 19 Dodge of Elliott Sadler - incurred two-race suspensions and $25,000 fines.

NASCAR didn't stop there: It penalized Kahne and Kenseth 50 driver championship points, while penalizing their car owners, Ray Evernham and Jack Roush, 50 car owner championship points.

In addition, Riggs and Sadler were penalized 25 driver championship points, while their car owners, James Rocco and Evernham, were penalized 25 car owner championship points.

Roush Racing issued a statement saying it would look into appealing the penalties against the No. 17 car. Evernham said in a news release, "We regret the situation has occurred and apologize to our partners, team members, fans and NASCAR."

The violations by the No. 9 and No. 17 teams were for unapproved aerodynamic modifications to the cars and were found during post-qualifying inspection. The violations by the No. 10 and No. 19 teams were for car parts not conforming to rules and were found prior to qualifying.

Before announcing the penalties, Jim Hunter, NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications, said the No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota of Michael Waltrip, which was impounded Sunday by NASCAR, had not been inspected. On Sunday, prior to qualifying, NASCAR officials found a suspicious substance in the intake manifold of Waltrip's Camry. The substance and engine parts were shipped to NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for analysis.

If rules were broken, Waltrip, team owner/driver of Toyota's No. 1 Cup outfit, may need to find another car to run in the duel Gatorade 150s on Thursday, which could jeopardize his chances of running in the 500.