May 20th, 2009 
T.C. Really Carl Long? Too many cubic inches? At what point did you really think that was a good idea? There is “working in the gray areas,” and then there is cheating. What Long did was about as blatant as cheating gets.
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, Carl Long was suspended for twelve races on Wednesday, docked 200 points, and his crew chief was fined $200,000 for running an engine at the All Star Showdown that exceeded the maximum engine cubic inch limit. See the story at SceneDaily.
The penalties levied on Long & Co. are the most severe ever handed down by NASCAR.
The engine that broke the rule was run during practice for the Showdown, but it blew up and was replaced before the Showdown. NASCAR took the engine from the team, and brought it back to it’s R&D center in Concord, NC. It was there that the infraction was discovered.
Normally you want to root for guys like this. They scrape together every cent they have just to show up at the track. Everybody loves the underdog. And I understand that they are at a serious disadvantage when they hit the track because of the lack of resources. And I can also understand trying to fudge on some things to try and make the race. But thinking you can get away with putting an engine in the car that is too big to gain a horsepower advantage is ludicrous.
In my opinion, Long and his team deserve everything they get in this situation. It’s such a stupid and blatant disregard for the rules that NASCAR had no other choice but to come down hard on them. This is the kind of cheating you would expect to find on a Friday night at a local short track. Not in the Sprint Cup Series.
So now, on top of the twelve race suspension and the point penalties, they’ve also most likely ruined the career of the crew chief. Something tells me that neither he nor Carl Long can afford to pay a $200,000 fine, and NASCAR won’t allow him into a track until the fine is paid.
Hope it was worth it.
Related posts:
Posted in 
Tags: 
Don’t know Mr. Long, but this is ridiclous. .17 ci oversize?Some mics have a diffucult time reading this. This reading would be extremely operator dependent. I like the King a ton but remember his oversize engine years ago? Cousin crew chief did it on purpose and got it through inspection because Nascar was not smart enough to find it. Let’s see I can’t remember his fine, maybe the author can look it up for us?
Well, didn’t take long for NASCAR to do their normal thing. Robby Gordon fined $50,000 and 50 pts. No suspensions for the driver, crew chief or owner. Both rules violations were miniscule and gave neither team an advantage.
To say one was more deserving of a higher fine is stupid. Both were cheating. It is black and white. This nonsense of “don’t mess with engine, fuel, tires” is even more stupid. You get caught cheating you should load up for the weekend with no money, no points whether it is post race or pre race. Simple fix.
It seems like if you get caught cheating in post race tech you always come out better because they never take your money or points away. Robby made more money than he was fined($208k in purse money). Stupid, stupid, stupid. They still $150k ahead.
Either fine everybody based on how much of a gain they are getting from their cheat or do as I said before and if you get caught cheating during the weekend…you load up and go home with no purse money or points.
Again, NASCAR will never do it as we have seen all within just 1 week. Two cheaters caught breaking a black and white rule…..penalties no where near in the same realm of each other. Plus if I was a crew chief I would rather have the rearend with more toe than the .17 CI.
I sure hope the appeals board fixes this.
Racer – It is a different type of infraction. Messing with the rear axle housing and having an engine that exceeds maximum cubic inches are two very different stupid things.
They talk about tires, engine and fuel because those things affect safety and can greatly increase performance. They deserve maxed out penalties. Carl Long’s situation is no different than Michael Waltrip. NASCAR didn’t hand out huge penalties after the jet fuel additive at Daytona. But that was a very big thing.
You can’t hand out the same penalty for everything. Just like in life, I am not going to go to jail for getting a speeding ticket, but I probably will if I rob someone. Two different infractions, two different penalties.
I gotta go w/ Racer here. I’m just not seeing the difference here. Out of spec is out of spec. Now I can see if Gordon’s rear end was out due to an accident, but there again Carl’s long (sorry no pun intended) connector rod could have been due to an accident called an internal meltdown. I’m confused on severity calls here.
Is NASCAR doing all post race inspections at the NC R&D facility? or still at the track?
So what we’re saying is everybody deserves the same penalty no matter what they do? I purposely take a guy out, I should be parked. So then I have a tire roll out onto pit road, I should be parked. I get caught speeding on pit road, I get parked. Same thing here. I use a motor that is too big and everybody gets suspended and I get a $200,000 fine. So my car is too low in post race inspection, everybody gets suspended for 12 races and there is a $200,000 fine. I have a spring that doesn’t fit within regulations, everybody gets suspended for 12 races and there is a $200,000 fine. It makes no sense.
What Carl Long was fined for was big. The last time this happened was the late 80s or early 90s and I believe Junior Johnson and others were suspended for 12 races. I’m sure he was probably fined too. There is precedent for that. Whether Carl Long meant to this or not this was big and it was bad.
A rear end housing that was too big deserves a penalty, but certainly not the one levied at Carl Long.
You CAN NOT have a standard fine you just hand out. Like I said previously it is not fair. No other sport works like this and frankly I don’t really think NASCAR should either.
Journo-I understand your point establishing difference between pit road and driving vs mechanical violations requiring their own set of penalties. But a rear end (Gordon), intake (Waltrip), spring seat, oil reservoir lid (LV-Edwards) or Longs motor are all integral “mechanical” pieces of that race car. Who is to say that one of these aspects provides, or doesn’t provide, more or less of a performance advantage? In my opinion NASCAR looks so strongly at engine related items as the life blood of the race car and will hit that area most heavily.
I’ve been through many a tear downs w/ SCCA and believe me I was nervous at times. Not because I cheated (never did that), but because of a possible oversight on my part which may or may not have given me an advantage. Maybe it’s like the NASCAR drug testing policy….what you don’t know “can” hurt you!
Question: are we the only ones reading/replying to a week old post?
NASCRAP is a joke……..
Do you really think for a minute that .17 ci over on a 358 ci motor is going to make Carl Long any more competitive? Do you reallty think that someone is going to build this into a 358 engine for a competitive edge? Sounds to me more like wear issues……..
It’s about NASCRAP trying to run the smaller guys out of business…….. the guy may not be able to afford to run all of the laps in a race, but he still works hard to be there to eventually try to work his way up the ladder….. evidently he isnt one of the chosen ones from Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, etc etc..
but thats ok, take the guy that runs last, often not even able to afford to finish the race, and throw the book at him……. I’d be interested to see dyno slips form this illegal engine versus a legal engine from one of the big teams….. I bet it would make NASCAR look really petty, even though rules are rules…..
dont get me wrong, if he was out of spec, he needs to be called on it…. but dont you think this is a bit much? Seems to me like an excuse to “fine” someone out of business………..
Find yourselves some good local dirt track to go to on the weekends……. no not everything will be perfect, but its beats the crap out of this NASCAR soap opera BS……
when does the appeal get heard and a decision made?
can’t find anything re this suspension since it was delayed.
TC are you done with this blog?
snappytom: I believe the appeal hearing is going on as I write this. I don’t know what the timetable is for a decision once the hearing is completed, but I’m guessing we’ll either hear this week or next.
just logged in to msn and saw the verdict.
TC could you check with one of the boys in the engine building shop and find out what exactly they do to prevent this type of issue.
As far as I’m concerned it’s a sad day for the sport. I stated before I was hoping for the appeals board to suspend the sentance or show some sort of leniency.
Lot’s of upset fans over on the fox sports message boards and these are just the ones that bother to log in.
Compared to the Toyota Magnet trick and Mickey’s jet fuel intake deal this shouldn’t have been 1/10th as severe.
Am I wrong to think there is a difference between normal wear and an intentional deception?
There is something else goin gon here.
Long must have pissed someone off,,
or said the wrong disrespectful thing
to the wrong “in power” person at NASCAR.
When things dont make sense, look deeper.
As far as I am concerned I despise these
tactics. If NASCAR wants hm gone, then
be honest, but to play this little game,
I am disgusted.
I will be boycotting watching NASCAR,
and I will attempt to avoid buying products
which advertise and support NASCAR.
I heard an interview with this guy, and
his life is shattered. If NASCAR wants to tell
us the truth, then I will come back, but if NASCAR
want to play “black bags politics” I am gone.
Well NASCAR has managed to stomp in the face of human digitny that even I thought that they were incapable of. They have spit in the face of everyone that has ever bought a ticket to a NASCAR event or the likes of every person that has sacrificed everything just to or an attempt to go NASCAR racing. I really thought that NASCAR’s appeal board would recend at least some of the monies fined against Carl. They had a chance to do the right thing and blew it. It would be easy to say that I will never contribute to anything NASCAR but I have done this long ago. I just don’t know how much more you can hate the running and manage of a business. I’m really at a loss of words.
For everyone that thinks this has been an injustice, they should go to Carl’s website and donate to help pay Carl’s fine. What would you think NASCAR’s take would be if the fans of racing paid the fine? I think that would be the shot that was heard around the world.
TC,
how about a grass roots effort to pay that fine?
I will donate $50.00.
It would be a shot heard round the world,
telling NASCAR what we think would be awesome.
hmmmmm….???
WHO GETS THE MONEY ANYWAY???
I always wondered WHERE DOES “fine” money, penalties paid go. Who gets the money? Does it go straight to France’s “luxury fund”?
anyway….
Could be a great idea, and good for your website
while doing a great thing for a human done wrong.
I am in for $50.00.
Garry: The fines NASCAR collects used to be placed back into the season long points fund that was distributed to the drivers after the year was over. Now they are given to the NASCAR Foundation which benefits a ton of charities.
I would be willing to bet that the people who think Carl long should be penalized have never built an engine for anything, much less worked in an Engine Shop. Did NASCAR check the Bore only or did they also check the diameter of the piston filling the hole? You can hone a cylinder on a used engine and cause what Carl Long’s engine checked at. IT’S A USED ENGINE!!!
Having been a racer for 40 years, (From Short Tracks, Drag Strips to Winston Cup Crewmember) I have seen a lot of “creative engine building”. I have seen 400 cranks in 350 blocks. Seen oversize pistons in 7 holes and 1 legal size where they expect to be checked. Creative ways to get more air or fuel or both. Many, many other things as well.
What was done to Carl Long’s engine was in no way done with the intention of increasing power. It was simply done with the intention of reusing an engine instead of scrapping it.
Les Richter and Bill France, Jr told me many years ago that NASCAR is in the entertainment business. Punishing Carl Long for something that was in no way intended to gain an advantage serves NO ONE. I attended Charlotte for the Coca Cola 600 and saw many, many empty seats. NASCAR needs to remember that they are in the entertainment business and try to please fans, not alienate the loyal fans that brought them where they are today.
I do not know Carl Long, but my perception of him is that he is the kind of guy who helped get NASCAR going. Men with a dream! With all of their heart, just want to race and be a part of the show. What benefit can there be from punishing this man whos only intention was to “Make the Show”
I hope Carl can recover from this and NASCAR will redeem themselves with their fans.
Thank you, Stan
Not sure if this is the correct place to say it,
but,
GREAT WEBSITE YOU HAVE HERE:)
Of course, feel free to post or not post this,
I just wanted to compliment you, pat you on the back and say “JOB WELL DONE”
I utilized good contact info found here to
email several NASCAR people and tell them
my feelings about “Carl Longing” Carl Long.
i have an idea we can get mayfield to pay the fine after he get done wiping nascar face in the mudd..i figure he is gonna walk with millions and millions.
That is a good idea Augie, although I dont know if he will win. Who knows what eveidence NASCAR may actually have ( but we would like to know ).
All I can say is, NASCAR is using gestapo tactics in something that is supposed to be for fun, as in entertainment. IF NASCAR thinks WE, the people sign thier paychecks, are this stupid, then NASCAR may be in for pay cuts, or out right layoffs.
NASCAR, please, cut the BS, and get back to what you do best.
1. was Carl’s intent to gain an advantage?
2. Does he have a history of cheating?
3. Was the infraction blatant ?
4. Will I attend the November race in Texas like I have for the last 11 years?
but I will be giving to his fund to help pay his fine..
http://www.carl-long.com/donations.htm
Thank you for the link, I will be mailing my promised $50.00 today to the street address on the web site.
WE ARE BOYCOTTING NASCAR UNTIL THIS BS IS FIXED. It started last weekend. We did not watch any of the races, and we wont until this is fixed. We are DVRing F1 racing, and watching that, when we need to fill the space vacated by NASCAR : (
I dont want to sound wierd, but, when we have done this before, odd things start to happen. I fear that NASCAR is too arrogant to heed the warnings. Only time will tell, but from Montgomery Wards to GM, bad business leads to bad karma, and that leads to going out of business.
In 2 years when NASCAR wonders what happened,
they only need to read this website. It is not rocket science. DO PEOPLE RIGHT, AND THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU, and vice versa.
Fair Warning NASCAR>>> a drought is coming.
WE ARE BOYCOTTING, MEANING ONLY THAT WE WONT WATCH THE RACES OR SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. THIS IS A PASSIVE PROTEST. This is a peaceful protest.
IT IS WHAT WE WILL NOT BE DOING ( i.e. we wont be spending our money or watching on TV ) THAT SHOULD WORRY NASCAR.
Garry: You say you are boycotting until the situation is fixed. What do you constitute as “fixed?”
Until the stop the secret peanlties etc etc and BS suspensions.
BUT,,,, watch out what I wish for ….eeeekkk : (
Just now, I am sad to say, they may have stepped and started telling the truth, and the truth hurts. a report just came out that says the drug was Meth.
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=558264
leaks are OK, if that is the way NASCAR wants to do it, but please juts tell us. I can take the ruth, and least it is honest.
The can fix it by telling us the facts…. on Carl, if he was “balck listed” tell us. Tell us he was a “what ever it is” , but dont do a BS penalty.
I can handle the truth, I understand politics, and if Carl was not playing nice with others, say that, but dont do a death penalty which makes no sense.
BTW
I mailed him $110.00 towrds the fine today, hopefully Garry Pacer will show up on his list, to show I am not BSing : )
Nothing would make me happier than to see nascar go out of buisness, and see a hodge-podge group of super modifieds get together and run a series of asphalt tracks. Nascar has “gotten to big for their britches”…….. that being said if this deal with NASCRAP trying to railroad people pisses you off, be a real race fan and start attending your local dirt tracks…… you’ll probably find the competition superior than NASCRAP…..
After spending the last few days reading about Carl Long and his situation, I am sad… Especially because after looking at the “donation list” there is only 1 driver who donated $5,000 That is a filthy shame!!! to think that the top teams have not all rallied together to help Carl Long..are they worried that he might win the 2009 Chase……PLEASE..i am sick of being a NASCAR fan, I am sick of what this sport turned into….BUT..on the other hand is there something were not hearing? is there a THIRD side to this story we know nothing about…because its true we all agree that this whole penalty seemed way out of wack..but I cannot see that pure HUMANITY wouldnt keep someone like Dale jr. or Jimmie, Jeff , Kyle….and the list goes on…Maybe these teams were told NO DONATIONS,,DO WE KNOW..is there an underlying evil?? Because i agree with alot of the above posts..most of you have valid points…but the is 3 sides to everything…I would love to know the TRUTH
Joseph- Just like David Reutimann, every driver is free to do with their money what they like. NASCAR and teams are not mandating what the drivers spend their money on (nor do I think I care), in fact if they wanted to pay the fine for Carl Long I’m sure NASCAR would be thrilled because they aren’t ever going to see the money otherwise. The issue is everyone knows if it were them with the penalty, Carl Long and all the rest of the drivers wouldn’t be rushing to pay it for them. It’s sad, it’s unfortunate, but the penalty is what it is. No underlying evils, no conspiracies; he broke the rules and is unfortunately faced with a penalty that he can’t afford. While I know Carl doesn’t agree with the penalty, even he admits the motor was too big, it’s just the circumstances that he believes should have exempted him, or lessened the penalty.
In all honesty though, ask yourself this question: if it were a bigger team would people have made the fuss they made?