hearing #12-Jeremy Mayfield’s NAPA Auto Parts 500 winning car has been impounded for “illegal roof height” found in post race inspection. The problem came when Mayfield jumped on the roof and dented it and took the car out of spec. NASCAR is hauling the car back to NC for the dent the size of a fist where the roof height is measured. The win will stand but hearing there maybe a fine. Also see stories about this at: Gaston Gazette, SpeedVision, Total Sports and That’s Racin’ THE DENT: Speedway Illustrated explains ‘the dent’ pretty well: “The problem is the dent is on the centerline of the car, 10” back from the windshield–right where NASCAR measures roof height. 51 inches is legal on all brands at this point. The dent apparently measures lower than the specification so NASCAR impounded the car and will bring it back to Charlotte where supposedly the dent will be removed and the car measured again(Speedway Illustrated)(5-1-2000) UPDATE #12 Fined: NASCAR officials announced they have penalized #12 crew chief Peter Sospenzo for rules violations found in post-race inspection following Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California. Sospenzo, crew chief for the #12 NASCAR Winston Cup Series team, was fined $25,000 and penalized under Section 12-4-T in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book: “… any car found to be under the specified height requirement after the completion of time trials or the race …”(TNN Motorsports and That’s Racin’ and SpeedVision)(5-4-2000) UPDATE 2: Getting asked much about this action from NASCAR, what you see posted is all I know, seems many fans are up in arms over this. Many stories I see say this: the violation was for the #12 Ford failing to pass post-race inspection after Mayfield won the NAPA Auto Parts 500 on Sunday at California. The car’s roof was measured below the minimum height of 51 inches. The team tried to explain it was a result of Mayfield jumping on the roof in victory lane. Nevertheless, NASCAR fined crew chief Peter Sospenzo $25,000 for the rules infraction(from a stoy today in the AJC. I am also hearing from some sources close to the team that: NASCAR told the Penske-Kranefuss team they knew the problem with the roof stemmed from Jeremy Mayfield being on top of the car after the race, and they did not believe the car ran that way during the race. There was a foot-sized dent where the roof height is measured. But they said it didn’t make any difference and issued the fine. I have not seen any explanations from NASCAR besides what is seen on the above sites and their stories. (and NO, I won’t run a poll on this nor will I start any campaigns on this, I do not know of any appeal processes NASCAR has) AND from Speedway Illustrated(great first issue by the way): Fans are asking us(Speedway Illustrated) if NASCAR is on some sort of mission with all the recent fines being handed out. Yesterday it was announced that Jeremy Mayfield’s crew chief Peter Sospenzo had another $25,000 added to his fines for a roofline that was under the minimum. Kevin Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief was also fined for an unapproved rear bumper. So, is NASCAR on the warpath? Speedway Illustrated sources say this is simply a “correction” of sorts. One crewmember told us, “NASCAR lays off the fines for a little while and we start crowding the rule limits, then they get on us for a while, fine a few people and we back off. Then it all starts over again. This happens every once in a while. The trick is to not be the guy who is made an example of.”(Speedway Illustrated) AND see the story at NASCAR Online: Mayfield’s team aims to bounce back, part of a quote: “saw footprints in the area where they were measuring and NASCAR did assure us that there was nothing illegal with the car”(5-5-2000)
