iNSIDE SCOOP: Another Waterloo for MWR

I must confess that I saw NASCAR weighing in on the Spin-gate controversy Saturday night at Richmond.

I did not see NASCAR dropping its new office building in Daytona Beach on Michael Waltrip Racing. I also did not expect them to remove Martin Truex Jr. from the Chase and put Ryan Newman in. 

From NASCAR’s beginnings, the rule always was that the winner was never stripped of his victory, because Big Bill France wanted those in attendance to leave the track knowing who won. This is a bit different, but close enough that I never thought they would do it.

I was wrong.

Get one thing straight: NASCAR’s credibility as a sport and a sanctioning body was called into question by the events surrounding the final seven laps of the Federated Auto Parts 400. Bungle the penalty phase and you have the WWE without Vince McMahon and The Rock. And the TV ratings.

They did not. Bungle, that is. 

The penalties were stiff. A $300,000 fine for team owner Michael Waltrip, 50 driver and owner points from each of the MWR cars (15, 56, 55) and the indefinite suspension of executive VP Ty Norris for violating Rule 12-4 (actions detrimental to stock car racing). The fine is the most ever levied by NASCAR. 

The point penalties were imposed after the race, and that dropped Truex Jr. to 17th in the points, moving Newman up to the second wild-card slot and into the Chase.

“Obviously, we’re very pleased with NASCAR’s decision to provide Ryan Newman’s rightful place in this year’s Chase” said team co-owner Tony Stewart following the ruling. “NASCAR was put in a very difficult position Saturday night at Richmond and we commend the sanctioning body for taking the time to do the necessary due diligence to ensure that the right call was made.”

For Newman, it was the second bit of good news on the day. Earlier, he was announced as the new driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing.

 “I am proud that NASCAR took a stand with respect to what went on Saturday night at Richmond,” Newman said. “I know it was a tough decision to make. With that being said, myself, Matt Borland (crew chief) and this entire No. 39 team are looking forward to competing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.”

As statements go, it was pretty vanilla. Better than, “nyah, nyah, nyah,” I guess.

NASCAR was put in a very tough spot. Either let the obvious collusion stand and go forward knowing that everybody saw it…and its reaction, or take a stand, end it now and drop the house on MWR.

They dropped the house. The penalties surpassed even those levied against the team back in 2007 when it was accused of tinkering with the engines on its new Toyota Camrys.

"As the sport's sanctioning body, it is our responsibility to ensure there is a fair and level playing field for all of our competitors and this action today reflects our commitment to that," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s VP of Competition.

It sure does. 

Mike Helton said the appeal process was open, but MWR later in the evening decided not to appeal the penalties. That would have been another circus, because we’re racing in four days at Chicagoland. It needed to be settled by the time the teams rolled into Joliet, and apparently it is. 

I’m betting that if it was appealed, it wouldn't be overturned. Of course, I never thought the penalties were going to be levied in the first place...