My my my....Chad got it good .....again!!!

JJ is has -23 in points. Im sorry but LOL.

Anyway, harsh penalty but I get it. NASCAR for sure took Chad's past into consideration in this one.

That's all I can figure it too.

Everyone says what a good CC he is but he's not that good when he causes his team or driver to lose points. It's kind of nice to show the younguns who watch these races that cheaters never prosper (well, not unless he works for Hendricks anyway since Chad's indiscretions are quickly forgotten in the scope of things -- championships).

Well this will be a true test for Jimmy !!! He is going to have to drive it like he stole it! Maybe NASCAR will give him extra points if he drives extra laps, kinda like extra credit, or extra points for sweeping Pit lane,or cleaning the debris off the track during a caution, or writing 1000 times with chalk, "I will not let Chad cheat again" on the start finish line!

well everyone is entitled to think they wont make the chase, so i will revisted this thread in september for good or bad..

here is the article -

48 penalty brings six-race suspension for Knaus
Car chief Malec also suspended for Daytona violation; Johnson docked 25 points
By Official Release
February 29, 2012 3:53 PM, EST

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR has issued penalties, suspensions and fines to the No. 48 team in the Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions found on Feb. 17 during opening-day inspection for the Daytona 500.

The No. 48 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted -- unapproved car body modifications).

As a result, crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec have been suspended from the next six Sprint Cup Series championship events, suspended from NASCAR until April 18 and placed on NASCAR probation until May 9. Additionally, Knaus has been fined $100,000.

Driver Jimmie Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and 25 owner points, respectively.
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I'd just like to point out that these "violations" come from a book... that may or may not .... even exist,...or in it's entirety .... to everybody. LOL

Hey I'm a nerd, I'll read the thing cover to cover.... too bad not one single person exists on the planet who is capable of delivering that challenge ....of delivering an official NASCAR RULEBOOK, that Helton and France have copies of. It doesn't exist. Parts of it do, when called for... but where's the whole thing?

NASCAR officials cover themselves with wording like ( and let me quote ) "if in the judgment of NASCAR officials" - which brings to mind - WHO are these officials? What's their back story? Please define "judgement call" criteria. ( Not really a question )

I'm no Chad fan, that's for sure ( More of a Jimmie liker, I guess )... but the penalty seems a little harsh to me... especially when you get down to the details ( past the media hype ) of what was found, and removed and the timing of it.

In the repaving waiting at Daytona...Two drivers got out of their cars and adjusted their fenders... and that's OK? ? ( Schmoop, help me out.. who were they again? LOL ) The drivers climbed out of their cars and made adjustments, in front of God and everyone.... and were allowed to continue. Huh? Isn't that a violation of all the above of Chad?

As usual, with NASCAR "Officials" the waters and the story seems murky, to me. There is a vital piece of the puzzle missing... some information we, the public doesn't know, and will probably come out in the appeal. I wish the lawyers for #48 Team The Best Of Luck. Don't let those fat farts play switch the rule violations pea shell game with ya.

OK, hate at will ... but I prob won't reply, since these are my opinions and I'm not going to defend my right to state my opinions....sooo..... have fun tearing it apart, I suppose.

They'll be fine...they always have the "wild card" to fall back on...not that I think they'll need it.

I forgot about the Wild Card, they will be fine.

The 48 is not one of my faves, but I do not dislike them either. I think the penalty was so steep because of Chad's previous issues and frankly after being caught on camera saying what he said last Fall I will not be convinced NASCAR was not watching them closer than any other team. When I first read about it, the reports said that while it fit the mold the officials did not like what they saw and that is why they confiscated the C-braces and such. As with Smokieonefour I think the penalty seems harsh. I have two thoughts, either they came down harsh so that on the appeal they can reduce the penalty and fine OR they are nailing Chad as an example and for his past history.

Hey Junior Johnson is the man who said it's not cheating, it's gaining a technical advantage. Junior would read through the rule book and find the areas that NASCAR was not regulating and work on those areas for improvements. Chad is just doing the same thing.
I hate feeling like I am making excuses for a team I don't care much about.

The fender business was done before on a red flag stop. If I'm correct it was Sterling Marlin and he did it in front of everyone and a camera crew. I don't think he was suspended but shipped to the end of the line. If I'm wrong about this someone who remembers this incident please correct me. I do remember the men in the broadcast booth were sure it was an infraction. Also I think he was leading at the time.

You are right Lizard, about Jr Johnson and the rule books, looking for any change that wasn't mentioned.

It should also be noted the "Rulebook" given to Teams... does NOT match the "Rulebook" of the France's & Helton. It's a FACT, folks. Follow the sport long enough and you will see. Don't take my word for it, try and find it... try and get it. Might as well try to capture Unicorns & Rainbows. LOL

Here is a story from Feb 18th -

Link - http://www.auto123.com/en/news/nascar-jimmie-johnsons-daytona-500-car-fails-tech-inspection?artid=140722


By Lewis Franck
Saturday, February 18, 2012

NASCAR officials confiscated the two “C” post pillars of Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, Friday, after inspectors found that they were modified outside of NASCAR specifications.

American sedans have three pillars. The “A” pillar is the first metal structure connecting the windshield and roof. The “B” pillars connect where the door would be and the “C” pillar connects the roof of the car to the trunk area.

The team was permitted to obtain spare parts, flown in from Hendrick headquarters, and will go through inspection again on before Sprint Cup practice on Saturday morning.

NASCAR officials told Auto123.com because the infraction happened before qualifying it was not deemed as serious as if it was found after qualifying.

That is why the team was permitted to replace the offending parts and go through tech inspection again.

All of this recalls 2006 when NASCAR confiscated Johnson’s Daytona 500 car after qualifying and suspended crew chief, Chad Knaus, for six races. Johnson came back and won two of those six races without Knaus.

Last year Johnson’s No. 48 car was always picked as the “random car” for post race inspection at NASCAR R & D in Concord, NC after a radio transmission from Chad Knaus to Jimmie Johnson “to back it into the wall” after the conclusion of the Cup race in Talladega.

Although the parts (pictured below) will be taken back to Concord NASCAR officials said that no penalties, if applicable, will be announced until after the conclusion of the season opening Daytona 500.
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Confiscated
Confiscated "C" pillar posts from Jimmie Johnson's car in NASCAR hauler (Photo: Lewis Franck)
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John Darby, NASCAR’s managing director of competition told Auto123.com that penalties have been imposed “many times before,” against teams who have technical violations even before they turn a lap. Only not to expect a penalty as severe as Knaus’ in 2006.
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OK... so here are my questions -

How did it go from being deemed "non serious" to the end result?

In ANY investigation... there is a chain of procedures to be followed, like police & CSI at a murder scene. Go ahead and try to find NASCAR's policies & procedures, regarding this. Who holds the pillars? How are they transferred to HQ and by whom? <<< This has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese.

The fact that the #48 Team loses points, before being found guilty ( by subjective means, no less ) is just another classic example of the France Iron Fist ruling & wrecking the sport.

I feel like Lizard, in an uncomfortable position of defending Chad, whom I do dislike .... I just hate the railroad / scape goat / make news for NASCAR to draw fans back / crap that passes for news.

None of the France / Helton "racquet" could stand up in a court of law and defend itself, and it's actions, except only by saying "It's our sport and our rules."

I fully expect JJ to make the chase. But he is going to have to win since he will be a wildcard. He has a ton of ground to make up it will take him all season.

These statements is why I feel that Chad is in the crosshairs of the NASCAR:

From Feb 19:
At issue is how NASCAR deemed Johnson’s car to be “outside of what [its] tolerances are.” NASCAR’s determination Friday that the “C-posts” (the area under repair in the picture to the right) on Johnson’s No. 48 were incorrect came via a visual inspection, not by using a metal template or “claw” placed on top of the car.

“We’re confused. We’re puzzled,” said Ken Howes, Hendrick’s vice president of competition. “Most of the time, we’re comfortable [with the inspection process]. NASCAR works hard; their officials work hard to make things fair – 99.9 percent of the time it works. And every now and then something happens to confuse you, and here we are.”

NASCAR’s inspection process is a slow and meticulous one that can take 10 hours and more than 80 officials to complete. Teams prepare the cars, present them to NASCAR for inspection, then watch as every nook and cranny is measured, using very precise tools, down to the tiniest fraction of an inch. Even slightly wrong is wrong.

With measurements this small, how can a car be determined out of tolerance with nothing more than a visual inspection? That’s a question Rick Hendrick is asking.

“I don’t like it when someone says I just don’t like the looks of it and never put the plate down on it,” Hendrick told ESPN.com. When asked if he thinks NASCAR could be targeting the 48 because of an incident last year involving crew chief Chad Knaus, Hendrick responded, “Maybe you can put it together.”

The fact that they did not use the template and just said we don't like this is just puzzling to me.

The fender business was done before on a red flag stop. If I'm correct it was Sterling Marlin and he did it in front of everyone and a camera crew. I don't think he was suspended but shipped to the end of the line. If I'm wrong about this someone who remembers this incident please correct me. I do remember the men in the broadcast booth were sure it was an infraction. Also I think he was leading at the time.

Here ya go, NDunn ....

link to whole page - http://thirdturn.wikia.com/wiki/Sterling_Marlin

this is just an excerpt from the page -

Marlin scored two victories early in the 2002 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. He led the 2002 Daytona 500 with six laps remaining until a red flag caution caused all drivers to have to stop and hold their positions. While waiting for the race to resume, Marlin climbed out of his car to look at the right front fender on his car. The fender was rubbing on the tire, and he pulled on it. Under NASCAR rules, no work of any kind is allowed to be performed on any car during a red flag caution period. Marlin was ordered to the back of the lead lap as a penalty. Ward Burton would go on to win, and Marlin finished eighth.

Since this penalty does seem harsher than "normal" my thought is that there's something going on we don't know about. NASCAR has admitted they don't share everything and this seems to be a perfect example of some info missing. If so, I doubt we'll ever know what really happened. They may have him on someone's cellphone camera admitting to hiding the fact or some additional issue with the NASCAR isn't discussing.

What goes on inside NASCAR stays inside NASCAR unless NASCAR says it can leaked.

I think it was back in January that NASCAR said there would be no hidden penalties or hidden fines. There would be full disclosure is what was stated.

everyone loves the fact the can call chad and the 48 team cheaters, so they can justify whatever success the team has had, i remember on speed when this went down they asked all the drivers that worked for speed and they all said the same thing " if your not pushing the envelope, your not doing your job as a CC" and all agreed they would want chad for that fact,

if your not exploring those grey areas, your not doing your job as cc, nascar is based on getting the edge, and yes cheating, dont fool yourselves, if your fav driver and his team could get away with it, they would do it,

everyone loves the fact the can call chad and the 48 team cheaters, so they can justify whatever success the team has had, i remember on speed when this went down they asked all the drivers that worked for speed and they all said the same thing " if your not pushing the envelope, your not doing your job as a CC" and all agreed they would want chad for that fact,

if your not exploring those grey areas, your not doing your job as cc, nascar is based on getting the edge, and yes cheating, dont fool yourselves, if your fav driver and his team could get away with it, they would do it,

thats what I have been saying.
You read the rule book to find out whats not in there.