NASCAR announced hefty fines against Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs for parts which were not illegal, the transgression was that they weren’t pre-approved by series officials.
Before Friday’s practice inspectors discovered that the oil pans on the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and No. 20 (Joey Logano) cars had not been previously submitted for NASCAR’s approval. Ironically, the suspected items were never found to be illegal.
NASCAR issued the following statement:
“All three of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were found to be in violation of the following sections of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Rule Book:
"In addition, all three car chiefs -- Chris Gillin (No. 11 car), Wesley Sherrill (No. 18 car) and Jason Shapiro (No. 20 car) along with senior vice president of racing operations Jimmy Makar have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31."
The team responded: "We received NASCAR's ruling today with regard to penalties for having oil pans on our cars that had not been submitted for approval prior to going through inspection on Friday.
" Although the parts were not illegal, we did not follow the proper submission for approval process. We will not appeal NASCAR's ruling."
Before Friday’s practice inspectors discovered that the oil pans on the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and No. 20 (Joey Logano) cars had not been previously submitted for NASCAR’s approval. Ironically, the suspected items were never found to be illegal.
NASCAR issued the following statement:
“All three of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were found to be in violation of the following sections of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Rule Book:
- 12-1 actions detrimental to stock car racing;
- 12-4-J any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in an event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event;
- 20-5.5.4A oil pan, failure to submit component
"In addition, all three car chiefs -- Chris Gillin (No. 11 car), Wesley Sherrill (No. 18 car) and Jason Shapiro (No. 20 car) along with senior vice president of racing operations Jimmy Makar have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31."
The team responded: "We received NASCAR's ruling today with regard to penalties for having oil pans on our cars that had not been submitted for approval prior to going through inspection on Friday.
" Although the parts were not illegal, we did not follow the proper submission for approval process. We will not appeal NASCAR's ruling."