Weekly NASCAR cheating report
It marked the second time in three years that a car has been DQ’d from the prestigious late model event in post race inspection after winning.
Inspectors found two fans underneath the car, driven by Brian Ickler, near each of the right side tires. The fans were connected to a switch inside the car and were designed to keep the tires cool and allow better traction on the half-mile track.
"As soon as I knelt down and looked inside, it hit me like a ton of bricks," Ricky Brooks, the chief technical inspector at Five Flags told a local newspaper. “I hate to have to do this. But we have to maintain rules for everyone who competes in this race."
The second-place finisher Augie Grill, 32, was awarded the victory; he was the defending champion of the event.
Ironically Grill was disqualified Friday night when his car failed inspection after qualifying second fastest. Grill was forced to start in the back of the field Sunday but fought his way to the second place finish.
Two years ago both the winner and the third place finisher were disqualified after failing post race inspection.
Last year Kyle Busch was scheduled to race but his car, driven by another driver, was disqualified after winning the last-chance race.
“It’s very disheartening to think racers are doing this to race fans," said Tim Bryant, general manager and co-owner of Five Flags Speedway told the local newspaper. Cupscene.com
[Editor's Note: The race has been sanctioned in the past by NASCAR; it is now an independent race. It often draws controversy as technical inspection has become controversial over the years since it lost the NASCAR sanction. However, the fact that the car in question was owned by a NASCAR driver just goes to underscore how rampant cheating is in all forms of stock car racing, including NASCAR where cheaters are caught every week. Banning teams for an entire season would take care of the cheating problem once and for all, but it appears the sport of stock car racing thrives on cheating and seeing who can cheat best to win and not get caught.]