iNSIDE SCOOP: Due Process

So, the final appeal of fines, penalties and suspensions has made its way through the process for NASCAR and Penske Racing, and the result might surprise you. 

Or, it might not. 

NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook on Tuesday upheld the fines and point penalties NASCAR handed out for unapproved tinkering under the rear ends of both Penske Fords, and reduced the suspensions of both crew chiefs, both team engineers, both car chiefs and and the team manager to two points races and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

That's four races off the six races NASCAR specified.

OK, then.

What it says to me is that NASCAR is going to defend its rule book, come hell or high water, and that Middlebrook is the final check and balance on the outcome.

The last four times Middlebrook has heard cases such as this, he's reduced at least one aspect of the penalty.

Twitter was alive with commentary in the aftermath of the decision, and the gist seemed to be, "why in the world would a team NOT appeal to Middlebrook?"

There's conventional wisdom and logic in that statement. Of course, logic is a great way to be wrong with confidence.

The next batter up is likely to be Joe Gibbs Racing, which has already stated they're not appealing the infraction, just the severity of the penalties.

If appeals that reach Middlebrook are on a four-for-four streak in the team's favor, what are the odds that the fifth time is the charm and the hammer drops AGAIN?

JGR's penalties were exactly double those levied against Penske, with the exception of the suspensions. That's $100,000 per crew chief, 50 owner and driver points and the suspension of Joe Gibbs' ability to earn owner points for the duration of the suspension.

Draconian, indeed.

It's a signal to the teams that they need to be very sure they are on the side of the angels before they bring a questionable part or piece into the tech line.

Of course, true racer and proponent of the "Unfair Advantage" that he is, Penske said it was what teams always do. "This sport has been built on innovation," he said later. "All of us have tried to innovate in areas not defined in the rulebook. We were in that area."

NASCAR has placed a very large sign on that area, which says "Keep Out! This Means You!" and electrified it to boot.

We have clearly reached the balance point for the fines/penalties continuum in NASCAR. First infraction=x, second infraction=x times two. So on and so forth, ad infinitum.

It proves, also, that the teams could give two rips about the money, and the points do matter, but they can earn more. The personnel, however, is a sore spot. Today's NASCAR teams thrive on continuity, and when the quarterback is out, the offense suffers.

Plus, not just anybody can do the crew chief thing. You pick leaders based on ability, whatever that may be, and you pick car chiefs and engineers for the same reason, but it's usually because that person is better at one thing than the crew chief is. It's sort of a support thing, really. 

One crew chief is great at calling a race, and the engineer is really good at adjustments. The car chief can fix anything, but can't see a big enough picture to climb up the box.

That's in general, not a rule, but it works.

So personnel is the thread that NASCAR will pull when it wants to send a message. Money is not that big a deal, and points are points. Keselowski didn't suffer all that much, and Logano is making up ground.

But take the crew chief away, plus the engineer and car chief, and you've just gutted the team for one sixth of the schedule.