Just some quick thoughts from this NASCAR Fan’s view. By now, everyone’s heard of the ruling by chief appellate officer John Middlebrook and they know that Penske’s penalties have been reduced. Since that is the fifth reduction out of six taken before him in three years, makes this fan wonder if NASCAR thinks their penalties are too soft (if they’re going to keep getting reduced.)
Honestly, this fan thinks that sounds just a little bit wimpy but, it’s okay because NASCAR is still NASCAR and I do respect John Middlebrook’s decision.
I am of the opinion that the penalties shouldn’t have been reduced as much as they were. I could’ve understood reducing them by half or one third but two thirds doesn’t make sense to me. It all goes back to intent and many in the garage area believe that there was intent on the part of the Penske teams. Makes one wonder whether or not NASCAR will be able to control certain other things in the future.
Of course no one will care about this, but when I was racing at our local short tracks. We got torn down and found illegal because we ground the oil passages on our motor and they said that wasn’t legal. In reality, that didn’t do a thing for making us go faster but because the rulebook didn’t say we could, they said that it was illegal. Of course the rules were changed after that to state that we could not do that to the engines in the future.
This fan believes working in gray areas should have its consequences especially when the line is stepped over, although I do understand both sides of the issue.
Should be interesting to see how all the rulings go for the JGR #20 team tomorrow. After all, what is too severe when it comes to penalties…?
See Ya Next Time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
(c) May 7, 2013 all rights reserved
Rusty Norman – NascarFansView – Justafansview
