Jul 25th, 2011 by 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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