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Sprint Cup
CUP: Childress Will Make Final Appeal
Richard Childress said he was disappointed but not surprised that his appeal was turned down...
Team owner Richard Childress has been placed on probation by NASCAR. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Team owner Richard Childress will go before NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook next week, his last hope at getting a 150-point penalty against driver Clint Bowyer overturned.
The odds are not good for Childress: During the last decade, NASCAR appellate officers have overturned just four of 94 cases that have been brought before them.
Wednesday in Concord, N.C., Childress spent five hours at NASCAR’s R&D Center, going before a three-person appeals panel trying to argue that the reason Bowyer’s No. 33 RCR Chevrolet flunked technical inspection after winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sept. 19 was because of damage caused by a wrecker that pushed the car after the race.
The three voting members of the appeals panel — former IndyCar racer Lyn St. James, former Sprint Cup crew chief Waddell Wilson and former USAC Chairman John Capels — denied Childress’s claim.
“Claims that the wrecker caused the infraction were negated by the telemetry from the car which did not show a sharp impact spike; by the fact that the rear template still fit snugly across the entire rear of the car; by a visual inspection of the rear of the car which showed nothing of note in the way of damage; and a visual review of the videotape of post race assistance tendered by the wrecker which appeared as relatively gentle pushing,” the panel wrote in its ruling.
“Of significance to the Panel were some additional facts which came to light during the hearing. Particularly of note were the facts that both rear hard points, left and right, were high, and that the rear of the body was offset on the frame. ... The Panel found that the penalties were consistent for infractions of this magnitude.”
Thursday morning, Childress issued a statement, saying he intended to appeal to Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive, who will give the final ruling on the case next week.
“I am disappointed but not surprised by the decision knowing how the appeal system is structured,” Childress said in his statement. “We proved beyond a reasonable doubt how the car was found to be out of tolerance after the race. Knowing how the system works, I brought a check with me to cover the cost of the appeal hearing and we have already submitted our request to appeal to the chief appellate officer.
“That being said, we will not let this be a distraction to the primary goal of one of our teams winning the Sprint Cup Series championship. We owe it to our fans and our sponsors to stay focused and bring the championship back to RCR. We will have no further comment on the matter until the appeal is final.”
The penalties in the incident were 150 driver points for Bowyer and 150 car-owner points for Childress. Bowyer’s crew chief, Shane Wilson, and car chief, Chad Haney, were suspended for six weeks as part of the penalty. Wilson was also fined $150,000. Both Wilson and Haney will be allowed to be with the team this weekend in Kansas and will not begin serving their suspension until the final hearing is concluded.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
The odds are not good for Childress: During the last decade, NASCAR appellate officers have overturned just four of 94 cases that have been brought before them.
Wednesday in Concord, N.C., Childress spent five hours at NASCAR’s R&D Center, going before a three-person appeals panel trying to argue that the reason Bowyer’s No. 33 RCR Chevrolet flunked technical inspection after winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sept. 19 was because of damage caused by a wrecker that pushed the car after the race.
The three voting members of the appeals panel — former IndyCar racer Lyn St. James, former Sprint Cup crew chief Waddell Wilson and former USAC Chairman John Capels — denied Childress’s claim.
“Claims that the wrecker caused the infraction were negated by the telemetry from the car which did not show a sharp impact spike; by the fact that the rear template still fit snugly across the entire rear of the car; by a visual inspection of the rear of the car which showed nothing of note in the way of damage; and a visual review of the videotape of post race assistance tendered by the wrecker which appeared as relatively gentle pushing,” the panel wrote in its ruling.
“Of significance to the Panel were some additional facts which came to light during the hearing. Particularly of note were the facts that both rear hard points, left and right, were high, and that the rear of the body was offset on the frame. ... The Panel found that the penalties were consistent for infractions of this magnitude.”
Thursday morning, Childress issued a statement, saying he intended to appeal to Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive, who will give the final ruling on the case next week.
“I am disappointed but not surprised by the decision knowing how the appeal system is structured,” Childress said in his statement. “We proved beyond a reasonable doubt how the car was found to be out of tolerance after the race. Knowing how the system works, I brought a check with me to cover the cost of the appeal hearing and we have already submitted our request to appeal to the chief appellate officer.
“That being said, we will not let this be a distraction to the primary goal of one of our teams winning the Sprint Cup Series championship. We owe it to our fans and our sponsors to stay focused and bring the championship back to RCR. We will have no further comment on the matter until the appeal is final.”
The penalties in the incident were 150 driver points for Bowyer and 150 car-owner points for Childress. Bowyer’s crew chief, Shane Wilson, and car chief, Chad Haney, were suspended for six weeks as part of the penalty. Wilson was also fined $150,000. Both Wilson and Haney will be allowed to be with the team this weekend in Kansas and will not begin serving their suspension until the final hearing is concluded.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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