NASCAR vice president of competition Robin
Pemberton made it clear Friday that the sanctioning body is not in the business
of reading minds, or judging intent.
Pemberton said the penalties handed down against
Joe Gibbs Racing this week were the result of a clear breach of the Sprint Cup
Series rulebook, and that NASCAR’s does not
include determining whether violations were intentional, or provided a performance
advantage.
"Over the last two or
three weeks… we've had some significant penalties,” he said. “They're in all
areas of the rule book. We're here to
not judge… whether they are performance enhancing. We're here just to regulate
the rule book.
"We've got rules in play,” said Pemberton.
“They're put there by NASCAR, with input from the teams, manufacturers and
outside experts. It's our job to manage those rules as it relates to the garage
area. When a guy exceeds pit road speed by six miles per hour but doesn't gain
any positions, he still exceeded (the speed limit). He gets a penalty."
Pemberton said there are three areas of the
race car that teams know are off-limits; engines, tires and fuel. And while
teams like JGR often purchase engines and components from outside vendors, he
said they remain responsible for the legality of the final product.
"I don't want to be cold about it, but
that's just the way it is," Pemberton said. "(The teams) know ahead
of time where they're supposed to be."
“We've put parameters in -- weights,
measures, heights, dimensions, coordinates to build chassis and bodies -- and
it's in quite (a bit of) detail. The teams know where they can and can't go,
and there are areas that they can work in.”
He also defended the severity of the
sacntions, saying, "We feel like we're consistent, but not every violation
is exactly the same. We do our best. We feel like we do a good job interpreting
the rules and levying the penalties they deserve.
“We're not here to judge the
performance on any of these (violations).
We are strictly here to regulate the rule book and keep a level playing
field for the garage area… and make sure everybody gets a fair chance at
competing."
In regards to the Facebook comments, I applaud you for setting them straight. Those kind of fans in the sport piss me off.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR has always come down harder on engines and their parts much harder than anything else. I get it... I may not agree with it, but I get it.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean to tell me that in a business that is based on performance, that John Darby & Robin Pemberton have no clue weather or not something may be used as a performance advantage? What a cop out!! Someone should send a bottle of common sense to the big shots at NASCAR. Many people (including hosts on channel 90) keep comparing Gibbs light weight connecting rod to Carl Longs' Cubic Inch penalty. One was a performance advantage, one was a mistake in manufacturing. And NASCAR officials can't tell the difference? What a joke!!
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