NASCAR's Worst Penalties
- Thread starter Kace-1
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The worst had to be when they took a win away from Ricky Rudd for accidentally spinning Davey Allison on the last lap of a road course.
Or when they pretty much ended Carl Long’s Cup career because the engine he bought from Chip Ganassi was a fraction of an inch too big at an exhibition race that NASCAR asked him to participate in to so there would be a full field
Or when they pretty much ended Carl Long’s Cup career because the engine he bought from Chip Ganassi was a fraction of an inch too big at an exhibition race that NASCAR asked him to participate in to so there would be a full field
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The worst. Reminds me of a classic quote concerning the NCAA.
"The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they're going to give Cleveland State another year of probation."
-Tarkanian, Jerry
Did NASCAR punish Ganassi in any way for that or was it all on Long?
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I think that is the only win still to this day that has been taken away from a driver.
The Carl Long thing was so bullshit even had HOF drivers calling out Nascar trying to get Carl Long reinstated. (still dont understand the severity of this)
To me there is nothing that tops these two penalties.
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That was utter bullshit. It was 2 thou overbore (0.002). It's the exact type of thing you'd expect from a worn out engine from thermal expansion, which is exactly what Long bought. You wouldn't gain any power from it either. Like I'm talking literally less than 1 HP.
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Just Long.
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I don’t remember the exact penalty they gave long, but I’m pretty sure it was a 6 figure fine that a part time, back of the pack driver for an unsponsored low budget team couldn’t afford, and you can’t race if you owe money. He was able to race in the Busch Series, and apparently someone either paid his fine or NASCAR came to their senses, because he did start a Cup race a few years ago
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It was a 200,000 dollar fine, which was the largest in NASCAR history until MWR’s Spingate. He was also banned from the Cup Series garage until the fine was paid, which pretty well ended his job as a part time mechanic for a couple of the mid pack teams
MWR got hammered pretty hard when his car and subsequently his back-up car were found to have an unknown foreign substance on or near the intake manifold during pre-race inspections. I don't remember all the gory details, but if I remember correctly it thought to be some liquid compound that would oxygenate the fuel and make it burn hotter and we all know that heat = horsepower.
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That was bad, but the penalties and sponsorship backlash from spingate essentially shut down the team. The 55 and 56 were gone the next year and the 15 went from championship contender to a 15th place ride
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And I think it’s the only Cup win of the modern era to be taken away(pretty sure a win was taken away at the first ever race of what we know as the Cup Series), but Kyle Busch had a Busch Series win taken away last year. I know because I bet on Kyle and was pissed
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Does anyone remember the Sportsman race at Montreal where Robby Gordon got black flagged, stayed out, crossed the line first then acted like he won anyway? I don't know if that qualifies as worst, but it certainly qualifies as entertaining.
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Gordon was rightfully pissed at the situation, but by the rules, NASCAR's ruling was right. You have to maintain pace car speed under caution, or you lose spots until you get the speed back. Ambrose dumped him, which was shitty, but NASCAR made the right call by the rule. And they had to take action against a driver ignoring a black flag and taking out the leader, even if the leader deserved it.
But going by that same rule, there was a Cup race in Kansas that was shortened due to weather in the area, it's one of the last races that ended under caution prior to the GWC. Greg Biffle ran out of gas and pulled off in the grass before taking the checkered flag. NASCAR gave him credit for the win anyways. Clint Bowyer should have been the winner, but he was too dumb to understand what was going on. Jimmie Johnson should have been second and he was pissed.