July 25th, 2011 
T.C. Last weekend at New Hampshire was a big weekend for Ryan Newman. Not only did he pick up his first Cup Series win of the season, but he also took down his third straight Whelen Modified win at the track. Newman won in a car owned and prepared by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion. Besides being their third straight NHMS win together, the win was also their fourth in four tries with that particular race car. Following the race however, Newman’s race car was impounded by NASCAR and taken back to the R&D Center in Concord, NC. On Wednesday last week, we learned why. The car was found to have an illegal intake manifold, and as a result NASCAR stripped Newman and the team of the win. This situation begs the question that if NASCAR will take lower series wins away, why will they not do the same for violations in the upper divisions?
We’ve seen plenty of examples over the last few years where drivers won a race, had race cars deemed illegal post race, received penalties, but were allowed to keep the wins. In most cases the points and monetary penalties issued pretty much erased the benefit of winning, but the wins were kept nonetheless. But apparently what’s okay for Cup, Nationwide, and Trucks isn’t good for the rest of NASCAR’s divisions.
I do applaud NASCAR in this case for one thing: making an example of Newman. If they’ll strip other drivers of wins, then Cup guys shouldn’t be subject to a different set of rules. Drivers like Newman are already full of talent, and they’ll come equipped with the best cars and crews, they shouldn’t think they can cheat too. My problem here is NASCAR’s different application of the rules for a lower series. They have the power to penalize as they see fit across all series, I just think they need to be consistent. I know many of you have begged for the same on countless occasions in the past, and this is just another example.
This situation really looks bad for all involved. NASCAR looks bad because they can’t seem to be consistent, and Newman and Bono look bad because they appear to be cheating to beat guys with a lot less resources. Hopefully this will be a lesson for all involved.
Now it’s your turn, should NASCAR have
taken the win from Newman? Should they ever take any wins away? Are there certain instances where maybe that is too drastic of a penalty? The floor is yours…
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The only problem with taking wins away is the same problem we have complained about for years: consistency(or the lack thereof). I for one don’t see Brainless , Mike Helton or Robin Pemberton ever being fair or consistent. Their actions in the past show they will make whatever moves that benefits them without regards to any ethics whatsoever!
Just another example of WRASCAR and it’s etch-a-sketch rulebook
and they wonder why they are losing fans.
Great column TC. Keep ‘em coming.
I think if the circumstances were egregious enough, NASCAR would take away a win at the Cup, Nationwide or Truck level; we just haven’t seen it yet in the modern era. I’m more concerned that infractions or violations in one series are never penalized in ALL NASCAR series. If the racing occurs under the auspices of NASCAR, the penalties should apply at all levels.
Because 199 does not have the panache as 200! And, the president was present at that historic win.
I was surprised about the taking away of the win, I always thought NASCAR said they wanted the fans to know who won before they left the stands. That said I’m kind of OK with it but I do have a question did they give the win to someone else or just took it away from them. Now we are tallking shifting all the prize money around, maybe they can divide it between all the competetors that day. I think the way NASCAR looked at it was this. First you stink up the show and then you F…ed with us to boot. If they penalized them exaclty like they would have a team that raced every week it really wouldn’t have affected them much so Smack don’t mess around in our sandbox again.
Nascar does need to be more consistent. When Bowyer won at NH last fall, then was penalized, he still kept the win…and the trophy. All he lost were the points he had basically won….But still gets credit for the win…..If you’re caught cheating, you should be penalized. Points, win, and money….
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought I heard on SpeedTV’s RaceHub that Newman’s illegal intake manifold had holes drilled in it to allow extra air past the restrictor plate (I didn’t even realize Modifieds used restrictor plates). Anyway, the most egregious aspect of it all was that Newman’s crew had filled the holes with wax to get through the pre-race inspection, knowing that the heat of the engine during the race would melt the wax and open the holes.
Off the top of my head, I can’t recall a single instance in the Sprint, Nationwide, or Truck series that was such a blatantly obvious attempt at cheating. Most other rule violations can at least be explained as some kind of mistake, whereas Newman’s crew not only cheated, but they also intentionally covered it up so NASCAR wouldn’t catch it. It doesn’t get much worse than that.
I have wondered this myself. Yes, I was surprised that they took the win away. Just don’t believe it would have ever happened in Cup Racing. Too much money involved and sponsors. So Nascar in my opinion did make a mistake. If they are going to take a win away it should be consistant in all the series. And, I thought they have said in the past that they wouldn’t take wins away. There have been some pretty big infractions in the past similar to this and the wins weren’t taken away. Just another case of Nascar doing what they want to do and there is nothing-not the criticism from media, fans, or drivers is going to influence or change their decision. Guess that’s just the way it is when you have pretty much a monopoly on racing and dictators at the helm.
Wasn’t the last DQ in the Modified Tour Burt Myers? If Burt got DQed then Ryan should be DQed too.
I think nascar should be consistent in all series. If you fail tech, you fail to keep the win. Sponsors will just have to get over it. They could have that written in their contracts with the teams. You win because you cheated, we no longer sponsor you. I’m sure other teams who don’t cheat would love to have them, and the sponsors them.
I also think nascar should punish drivers who drive like idiots. Just like what happened in the Indycar race yesterday. I know most are “just racin” deals but, when driver X makes a boneheaded move and takes out an innocent victim(s), that driver should be penalized. At least be parked for however long the victim’s team takes to fix the car, or out for the rest of the race if the car can’t be fixed.
I think alot of the penalty had to do with the egregious nature of the penalty and the fact that a points penalty and money penalty would have meant nothing to Newman and Manion. They are not racing for points and $500 which is a typical fine for the WMT is a drop in the bucket for these guys.
I have always called Nascar inconsistent with their rules but under the circumstances, they made the right call on this one.
Why the difference? See 1983 fall race, Charlotte Motor Speedway.
At the local level, under the NASCAR banner, illegal meant it was like you never raced. Now it’s deduct points, bottom of the finish, etc.
If it’s wrong, it’s wrong and it should be like you weren’t there. Wonder what that would do to mult-million dollar sponsor feelings?
NASCAR would have to make rules as to what infractions would constitute taking a win away. These rules would be constantly changing and never be evenly applied.
Messing with intake manifolds is a huge infraction. I think NASCAR is going to be tearing apart EGR cars for quite a while. They may watch Newman’s cars closer as well.
Nothing wrong with EGR, the manifold is supplied by the engine group I thought