I Thought NASCAR Didn’t Do Those Things!
NEWSFLASH: They do, do “those things!”
Take wins away that is. It hasn’t happened often but it only takes one to disprove the myth.
The first Daytona 500 ended in controversy. Johnny Beauchamp was flagged the winner in a photo finish with Lee Petty. Most observers felt Petty had reached the finish line first. Bill France announces the results are unofficial and solicits all still photos and film so a decisive winner can be determined. Lee Petty is officially declared the winner 61 hours after the checkered flag fell
Richard Petty is credited with his first win at Charlotte in 1960 at the wheel of a ‘59 Plymouth. But it was the year before (June 14, 1959) at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway when he first crossed under the checkers an apparent winner.
The result was protested, score cards checked, and Richard was awarded second place. Interestingly the second place driver was awarded the win but was also the driver that protested the original finish, Richard’s father Lee Petty.
In more modern times the flagged winner at Sears Point in 1991 wasn’t officially credited with the win. On the next-to-last lap Ricky Rudd made contact with leader Davey Allison in turn 11, spinning Allison out. Allison recovers and finishes four seconds behind Rudd.
Rudd was black-flagged for aggressive driving, given a 5 second time penalty and Allison was elevated to first and awarded the win.
Dale Jarrett’s victory in the Detroit Gasket 200 Grand National race at MIS was taken away. 3 hours after the checkered flew NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall walked into a nearly empty press room and announced: “I regret to inform you that we have a new winner of the Busch race.”
In the 1992 The Granger Select 200 at New River Valley Speedway Jeff Burton was the original winner of the race but was disqualified due to a non-approved part in the rear end.
All of which brings me to an even more modern day, like this past weekend.
NASCAR’s Camping World East Series was abuzz with young Payton Sellers‘ first ever win at Greenville-Pickens Raceway Saturday night. The buzz grew louder when his teammate Austin Dillon, and grandson of Cup Series owner Richard Childress, drove a black #3 in his first East Series start to second place.
Then up stepped the buzz-killers wearing NASCAR inspectors smocks.
Andy Santerre Motorsports, the team both Sellers and Dillon race for, announced that Peyton Sellers had been stripped of Saturday night’s An American Revolution 150 win. The win was awarded to Sellers’ teammate, rookie Austin Dillon and Sellers was also banned from the next three NASCAR Camping World East Series events.
Now I know some of you nay-sayers out there will whimper, “but that’s not ‘NASCAR’ it’s just, a local short track.”
Sorry, it was a NASCAR sanctioned event, at a track that is a member of NASCAR’s local track program and the shocks in question were taken to the very same research and development center in Concord that every other disputed part is taken whether it’s Cup, NCTS or the Camping World East Series.
Even more telling, Sellers has been tagged as one of the “young guns’, spending 2006 as a Richard Childress Racing’s driver development program driving for Bill McAnally Racing in the Autozone West Series.
Sellers isn’t a backmarker NASCAR spanked, he’s one of the NASCAR late model top guns and if the three race ban stands it all but kills his chances for a series championship.
Note Andy Santerre’s defense:
“We admit there was a rules infraction,” Santerre said in a statement. “It was a shock to us as much as it was unintentional and unknown prior to postrace inspection.“We conceded that and worked with NASCAR to make sure it was not found in any of the other shocks or on the second ASM car. It was not. We understood there would be ramifications, but to go against past precedent and take the win is disappointing.”
First of all, as shown above there is past precedent to taking away a win Andy’s brain of full of race track marbles if he believes that.
Secondly, does pulling the “unintentional and unknown” card sound familiar? It should, it comes straight from Robby Gordon’s play book that worked so well.
So there you have it, the past and present of the, “The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat” - at the hands of NASCAR inspectors,
Don’t ever let anyone tell you “NASCAR doesn’t do that!” Because they do, and fairly often.
AS A SIDE NOTE, former Cup, NCTS and Busch Series driver Steve Park finished 10th in this event.
Technorati Tags: Camping World East Series, Payton Sellers, Austin Dillon, NASCAR, Marc Davis, Greenville-Pickens Raceway
Personally, I thought that the penalty was a little severe IF you consider what they typically hand out. This is just further proof that NASCAR needs to have a standard penalty system rather than “case-by-case”.
my take is that cheating is cheating and if you cheat you should be disqualified
And you know what Charles, your “take” doesn’t fit every occasion.
If a team does something that is not finely outlined in the rulebook, as happens so often, it’s not “cheating.”