Full Throttle

The verdict is in, but NASCAR’s sentence is light.

Busch Series driver Reed Sorenson’s crew chief was suspended for six races Tuesday for soaking tires at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Brian Pattie was fined $35,000, suspended until Oct. 26 and placed on probation until the end of the year. Crew member Brandon Stafford also was suspended for six races.

Sorenson was also docked 50 championship points which at this point is meaningless, he had zero chance at reigning as champ without the penalty. Ganassi was also docked 50 points in the owners championship, again meaningless. The train wreck that is Ganassi Racing had zero chance of winning the title.

My question is, where’s the accountability? The crew chief gets fined for being in charge and is being held accountable. Where is the fine for the team owner where ultimate responsibility resides?

Stafford has widely been descibed as the “tire specialist” so where is his monetary fine? Are we to believe it was just an error in judgement? No, he knew exactly what he was doing and that it was illegal.

The penalties are entirely too light my book. But when in Daytona Beach I wear a swim suit, not a “suit.”

This thread should be interesting to read in the next few hours as a guage of fans reaction.

Busch Series, NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports