National Stock Car Racing Commission rescinds probation for Stewart
Briefly, the penalties concern Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR Rule Book “Actions detrimental to stock car racing," Section 8-9 Competitive Analysis – From time to time, NASCAR may determine, in the interest of competition that it is necessary or appropriate to undertake an analysis of the performance capabilities of a car, car part, component or equipment. The Competitor shall take whatever steps are requested by NASCAR Officials for this purpose. NASCAR also has the right to seal or impound cars, car parts, components and/or equipment for this purpose. NASCAR is not responsible for payment, reimbursement, damage or loss to the Competitor as a result of such analysis, sealing or impounding," Section 12-4-Q (1) “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that a car, car component, engine, engine component, or any other part or related equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR Rules, detailed in Section 20A of the Rule Book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the Event, or is not required for the normal functional operation of the race car, or has been altered to detract from or compromise its integrity or effectiveness, whether operational or not," and Section 12-4-K “When NASCAR Officials mandate inspection during the Event, if any car, car parts, components, and/or equipment which have been used in the Event are taken from the racing premises without permission of a NASCAR Official, or are tampered with by any member of the team or anyone associated with the team: Magnetic spacer attached under the gas pedal with the intent of compromising the chassis dyno test."
This stemmed from post-race inspection for a NASCAR Nationwide Series Event held at Michigan International Speedway on August 16, 2008.
The penalties assessed against each driver were:
-a loss of 150 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship Driver points, and probation until Dec 31, 2008.
Records indicate that others, including the car owners, crew chiefs and team members also received penalties for these same infractions. However, the Appellants specifically requested that the Commission review the probation portion of the driver penalties only. The Appellants also requested and were granted a deferral of the driver probation portions of the penalties until this hearing could be convened.
After reviewing the testimony presented during the hearing, the National Stock Car Racing Commission unanimously decided to amend the penalties assessed by NASCAR, removing the probation portions of both driver penalties, while leaving the Championship Driver points portions intact.