Stock Car Commission Needs To Show Guts In Long Appeal
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Let’s see if I understand this:
Carl Long essentially is given NASCAR’s version of the death penalty – essentially ending his career with the heavy-handed penalties he (minus 200 driver points plus 12-race suspension), his wife (minus 200 owner points and 12-race suspension) and crew chief Charles Swing ($200,000 fine, 12-race suspension and placed on probation until Dec. 31) received – for having an engine that was 0.17 of an inch larger than allowed.
The unprecedented penalties were not only the stiffest in NASCAR history, you could infer they at least in part contributed to Swing being hospitalized with chest pains shortly after the penalties came down – not to mention how Swing is potentially facing possible personal bankruptcy if Long’s appeal next week is denied.
Again, all that for “being over” by a mere 0.17 of an inch.
But yet on Wednesday, Robby Gordon gets penalized for having a rear axle housing whose toe-in/toe-out, according to NASCAR, “exceeded the maximum specified toe of plus or minus one degree.” For that, Gordon is docked 50 owner and 50 driver points, while crew chief Kirk Almquist was fined $50,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
Can someone tell me how 0.17 of an inch – I’ve seen hangnails that are bigger than that – is such a significantly more egregious violation than a toe-in/out of more than one degree?
But by penalizing Gordon significantly less than it did Long, did NASCAR just significantly weaken its own case against Long, particularly when he appeals the stiff penalties on June 2 in front of the Stock Car Auto Racing Commission?
I can’t see how the Commission can affirm Long’s penalty when the level of the infraction was minimal at best – and deserves a much lower penalty.
While the Commission is known for typically siding with NASCAR in appeal hearings, I’d like to see the commissioners who hear Long’s case – and ultimately decide his long-term fate in racing, if he is to ever have one again – show some guts and overturn the penalties against Long, his wife and Swing.
And then the commission should turn around, cite how relatively easy Gordon got off, and then penalize NASCAR itself for “actions detrimental to stock car racing.”
I mean, given the lunacy and disparity between Long’s and Gordon’s infractions, it would only be fair, right?
