HMS front row

I was sleeping thru qualifying and woke up to lap 40 of the truck race. I went online to find out that Gordo has the pole and Junior starts 2nd! Woot for Junior!

Now on to Edwards controversial "missing oil pan lid".

Carl Edwards won the Vegas race and Junior finished 2nd. After post race inspection, NASCAR noticed that the oil pan lid was missing. They fined Roush and co. $100k, 100 points, and the crew chief off to a six week vacation. Now, everyone is having their .02¢ in, it's time to read what other's think of this.

Roush-Fenway's "vibration harmonics":

The bolt holding the lid in place failed in its purpose as a result of vibration harmonics generated by the car and the race track during the race. The bolt was secure enough to survive 225 miles of practice, perhaps up to 399 of 400 miles of the race and the scrutiny of numerous inspections. article

The Biff thinks:

Greg Biffle: I can assure you one thing. If they took the win away from these guys instead of penalizing them points and money, I'm pretty sure that you would see a lot less penalties and fines and money. They have kind of set the precedent that they don't take the win away, they just fine you whatever points you earned for winning technically, and fining you money. That is a good question why years ago they decided that's the way that they were going to do it. But I certainly think that they could change it and say, "Listen, for 2009, or whatever, some certain infractions can be a fine or penalty that aren't severe, but if its severe enough we are going to take the win away." article

Junior's theories:

“Him [Geoff Smith] saying that it was a mistake and the bolt was failing was ridiculous,” Earnhardt Jr. said of Smith. “It was comical. That was really comical actually. And they should not allow him to make those kind of comments." ... The truth, according to Earnhardt Jr., is that Hendrick Motorsports has tested a car with a loose oil tank reservoir lid in the wind tunnel and it added 19 pounds of rear downforce. Earnhardt Jr. also noted that Edwards’ car had loose window clips after the Las Vegas race, which Earnhardt Jr. said, “that’s not by accident.” article

Toyota's testing facts:

Lee White, GM for Toyota Racing Development, said the manufacturer's testing at wind tunnels in Germany revealed removing the cover on the oil tank (located in a steel box behind the driver's seat) resulted in 170 extra pounds of downforce, the aerodynamic measurement of keeping a car glued to the track. ... White was skeptical of a bolt failure. "I guarantee you the cover bolts didn't fall out, because if they fall, the engine leaks and you can't run," he said. "If you want something to fall off, you fix it so it can." article

There you have it. All the NASCAR funnies in one post.

Labels: dale jr, hendrick, nascar, roush