NASCAR opened a huge can of worms on Sunday. Now it will be very interesting to see how they rule in the Robby Gordon appeal on Wednesday.
What Happened:
On a pit stop at lap 215, Carl’s Office Depot team was unable to secure a tire that later bounced across pit lane and through the infield. NASCAR opted to NOT penalize Carl Edwards due to them ruling that the tire was not secured due to interference from a camera man that was in the pit at the time of the incident.
Now in my history of watching NASCAR, this is the first time I have ever seen NASCAR make a judgment call like this. While the ruling may be just, NASCAR has always ruled in black and white or in absolutes. There is a rule in black and white that says if a tire bounces across pit lane then the driver is penalized by starting at the tail end of the longest line. Carl Edwards already knew this as the team had already been penalized for the same violation earlier in the race.
Now the tire absolutely rolled across pit lane and through the infield and the tire was absolutely Carl Edwards tire. Usually that means a penalty. But here, NASCAR opted to make a judgment call and not penalize the team, again for the first time I can ever remember seeing.
Why do I even bring all this up?
Robby Gordon will have an appeal heard on Wednesday March 5th steaming from a penalty enforced on his # 7 Jim Beam car of 100 points and a crew chief suspended for 6 weeks.
What Happened:
Robby Gordon’s car was found to have an un-approved nose attached to his car in pre-race inspection for the Daytona 500.
Now again, NASCAR has always ruled in black and white and in absolutes. There is a rule in black and white that says what you can have on your car. Robby Gordon absolutely had the wrong nose and the team was penalized accordingly.
Now, the nose was supplied to him by Dodge. The car never made it on track with the un-approved nose as the team switched out the nose went back through tech and passed.
Basically, through the fault of somebody other then anybody on the # 7 team, the team was supplied the wrong nose to their car and was then penalized.
So, Carl Edwards does not get penalized for something that was not their fault but Robby Gordon does?
In this writers opinion either
A) the penalty to Robby Gordon needs to be reversed and the 100 points should go back to Robby and the crew chief should be reinstated immediately
B) Carl Edwards should be penalized for what happened to him in Las Vegas and the UAW 400 needs to be awarded to Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Now it will be very interesting to see how they rule in the Robby Gordon appeal on Wednesday.