| Published:N/A |
| Date: July 2006 |
| Section: Nascar/Opinion/Satire |
| Comments: |
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By: Ian Essling
Busch Series Director Joe Balash defended the decision of NASCAR to levy large points deductions and crew chief suspensions on two teams this week.
"We are making a point," Balash stated, "These teams have shown their affinity for cheating and we are showing them that it doesn't pay. Well, it pays us, but you know what I mean."
A 50-point penalty and monetary fines were given to Richard Childress' No. 21 car driven by Kevin Harvick, and a six-week suspension was given to that car's crew chief, Shane Wilson. Wilson had been on probation since a similar infraction in April at Talladega.
In addition, the No. 77 Chevrolet driven by Burney Lamar and owned by Childress' driver Harvick, was hit with the same penalties.
"I consulted with my good friends John [Darby] and Jim [Hunter] from Nextel Cup race control, and they back me up on this, " Balash said.
"In the words of my favorite driver, Harvick is a just a punk. The 77 didn't deserve the penalty we gave them, well, heck, neither did the 21, but we gotta hit Harvick where it hurts."
"With all the bad things this monster [Harvick] has done, do you know how bad it would look for him to win a championship, while his driver wins the rookie of the year? Come on, Nascar has to keep some credibility here," Balash explained.
Harvick currently has a commanding lead in the Busch series points standings, even after the penalty. He is one of seven drivers attempting to complete both the Busch and Cup series complete schedules, and is ninth in points in the premier Cup series.
"We'll see how long his points lead lasts when it becomes illegal for his team to use more than one set of tires in a race," Balash said when questioned on the points race.
"It's a foregone conclusion that we're going to screw with Harvick and his teams cause we don't like him. For the last two years we didn't have to do much cause his team did the job for us, but come on, look at how he's running this year?"
Cup and Busch series now visit Chicagoland speedway, the site of two of Harvick's six Cup series wins.
"We'll see how well he does trying for number three when we black flag him on lap 1 for 'driving deemed detrimental to stockcar racing: advancing your position without Nascar permission.'"
Balash declined to comment further, after he was overtaken by a cackling fit slightly reminiscent of a hyena.
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