#1 car doesn't fit templates, seized by NASCAR: During opening day technical inspection Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR seized the #1 DEI Chevy driven by Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR said that during the tech inspection the car did not fit the roof templates. The team was allowed to try again and when they failed again the car was seized and will be taken to NASCAR’s R&D center for further evaluation. The team was told to bring their back up car out for inspection.(Cup Scene Online)(7-3-2008)

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Truex fined 150 points for failing inspection
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
45 minutes ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Martin Truex’s bid to make the Chase for the championship took a severe hit Tuesday when NASCAR penalized his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team 150 points for bringing an illegal car to Daytona.

Truex’s car failed its initial inspection last week at Daytona because the No. 1 Chevrolet failed to fit NASCAR’s roof template. NASCAR officials seized the car and sent it to their Research and Development Center in Concord for further inspection.

“Somebody made a big mistake,” said Truex, who missed the only practice session before Saturday night’s race because of the illegal car. “Shouldn’t happen in this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes. We’ll go on.”

But it will be an uphill battle from here for the star driver at DEI, who is in a contract negotiation year.

The 150-point penalty drops Truex from 14th in the standings to 18th. The top 12 drivers make the Chase, and Truex has just eight races to get back into contention.

In addition, crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and car chief Gary Putnam were suspended from the next six races and placed on probation until the end of the year.

Manion was also fined $100,000.

John Story, vice president of motorsports operations at DEI, said the team will use its 10-day window to decide if it will appeal the penalty.

“We are still trying to understand how the car fit our templates multiple times at the shop, but we respect NASCAR’s determination that one of our cars did not exactly conform to their template at the track,” Story said.

Truex, who won his only career Sprint Cup Series race last year at Dover, was DEI’s only driver in championship contention. He made the Chase last season, but finished 11th in the final standings.

This year has not been as solid for Truex, who has just five top-10 finishes through 18 races.

He went into Saturday night’s race just 71 points out of Chase contention, but had to drive a backup car that got no practice and just two qualifying laps before the race. While teammates Paul Menard and Mark Martin qualified first and second, and rookie Regan Smith was eighth, Truex qualified 35th.

He rallied somewhat to finish 17th in the race, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap on 12th-place driver Tony Stewart.

Now he’s 238 points out of 12th place, with 2004 Chase winner Kurt Busch and Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman among the drivers he’s got to pass to move back into contention.

The penalty comes at a tumultuous time for DEI.

Truex, the star of the team since Dale Earnhardt Jr. left this year, is also in a contract negotiation that has yet to be resolved. 2009 is an option year for both the team and the driver, but Truex has not yet agreed to return.

In addition, Martin said last week he’s leaving at the end of the season to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. DEI plans to promote Aric Almirola into that seat full time, but sponsorship is in question as the U.S. Army has been shopping its funding across the garage.

Also, Smith’s team has had just partial sponsorship all season and DEI has acknowledged it may have to cut down to just three teams if funding for Smith’s car isn’t found.

Also Tuesday, multiple Internet reports suggested team owner Teresa Earnhardt is trying to sell all or part of the race team that was founded by her late husband, seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

Max Siegel, president of DEI, denied Earnhardt is trying to sell or searching for an investment partner.

“She’s not selling it, I’m not buying it,” Siegel said. “We get calls all the time, but nothing is on the block.”

The recent trend in NASCAR has been for owners to take on outside investors as partners to secure financial stability. Most recently, Petty Enterprises sold majority ownership to Boston Ventures.

But Siegel said DEI is not currently looking for help.

“We’re not for sale. We’re not looking for partners,” Siegel said. “I don’t know where this stuff comes from.”

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Rome did not create a Great Empire by having meetings--- They did it by killing all people who opposed them!

NSCRC upholds penalties against Truex's No. 1 team
By Official Release
July 21, 2008
04:41 PM EDT

type size: + -On July 21, 2008, the National Stock Car Racing Commission heard and considered the appeal of Dale Earnhardt Inc. regarding the No. 1 car. The appeal concerned four penalties issued by NASCAR stemming from opening day inspection on July 3, 2008, at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Daytona International Speedway.


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The penalties concern Section 12-4-A of the NASCAR Rule Book "Actions detrimental to stock car racing;" Section 12-4-Q: "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the car, car parts, components, and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules" and Section 20-3.8A: "Roof of the car does not conform to the specifications of the NASCAR Rule Book."

The penalties assessed were:

• Loss of 150 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship car owner points for car owner Teresa Earnhardt.

• Loss of 150 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points for driver Martin Truex Jr.

• $100,000.00 fine; suspension from NASCAR for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events; suspension from NASCAR until Aug. 27, 2008, and probation until Dec. 31, 2008, for crew chief Kevin Manion.

• Suspension from NASCAR for the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events; suspension from NASCAR until Aug. 27, 2008, and probation until Dec. 31, 2008, for team member Gary Putnam.

The Appellants had requested and were granted a deferral of the suspension and fine penalties until this hearing could be convened.

The Appellants did not contest the rules violations, but argued that the penalties were too severe for the infractions. The Appellants explained that rigorous checks and balances in the fabrication process were in place at DEI and could offer no explanation as to why the roof failed to meet the inspection templates. They argued that the infractions were minor in nature, not deliberate, and that the resulting lowered roof was a disadvantage according to their wind tunnel findings.

The Commission found that the infractions were clear-cut. The roof was low across a broad area. Accordingly, the penalties that were issued are warranted.

Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR. The periods of the suspensions are to be adjusted from the date of this hearing.

The Appellants have the right under Section 15 of the Rule Book to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner.