#92 Crew Chief Penalized and Suspended UPDATE 2 Knaus back at the track: NASCAR officials announced today they have penalized NASCAR Winston Cup Series crew chief Chad Knaus for rules violations (shoulder harness) discovered in preliminary inspection prior to the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. Knaus, crew chief of the #92 NASCAR Winston Cup Series team, was fined $5,000 and suspended from the next two NASCAR Winston Cup Series races (suspension ends April 4, 2001). Knaus was penalized under Section 12-4-Q in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series rule book: “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that parts and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform… or have not been approved by NASCAR…”(NASCAR PR) UPDATE: Melling Racing owner, Mark Melling, issued the following statement in response to the suspension of Knaus: “I stand soundly by the safety record of Melling Racing over the many years that we have been participating in this sport. We are one of the first teams to use a neck restraining device (developed in conjunction with associate sponsor Autoliv, the number one automotive safety company in the world). That device was in place prior to this year’s Daytona 500. From owner to driver to crew chief to mechanic safety truly is our utmost concern. We are appealing this penalty immediately. For NASCAR to call us out on a “technicality,” two weeks after the discovery of the alleged infraction, is just wrong. We have been a leader in the safety area long before it became the recent “buzz” word in NASCAR. I’m deeply troubled that NASCAR chose to make an example out of us.” Melling Racing crew chief, Chad Knaus, made the following statement: “NASCAR’s concern is that safety belts are up to current standards. The belts in question are brand new belts, and we can prove that. As a matter of safety, we trim off excess shoulder belt material,” continued Knaus. “If we did not discard the extra 16 to 24 inches of material, the unused part of the belt would hang free in the cockpit. We don’t believe rolling up the excess material provides as safe an alternative as trimming off the excess. When we trimmed off the excess belt material, we also cut off the tag. However, the other belts from this set still had their dated tags, which indicated that this set was new. If NASCAR fined and suspended every crew chief because only one belt was not dated, then every crew chief would be fined and suspended because not every belt is dated. Only three of the five belts that make up a safety restraint system have dated tags, and Simpson even makes a set of belts, harnesses and hardware that come in one box and has only one date tag. So how does NASCAR know the other belts or harnesses are up to spec? They look at the other belts or harnesses that are dated, and they judge the system as a whole. They didn’t do that in Atlanta. It’s unfortunate, because I personally make sure that our team goes above and beyond the industry standard to ensure the safety of our cars,” said Knaus. “Let me add that I’m glad that NASCAR leaves the choice of safety equipment to the teams. I want that responsibility, and I think NASCAR generally does a very good job policing the safety equipment in these cars. In this case, however, I feel like we are being made an example of.” During his absence, the #92 Kodiak Racing Team will operate under a “crew chief-by-committee” structure at Bristol and Texas. Race-day-calls will be made by team owner, Mark Melling, car chief, Dean Johnson, and mechanic, Cory Stott(Melling PR)(3-21-2001) UPDATE 2: Chad Knaus, crew chief of the #92 Kodiak Dodge driven by Stacy Compton, will work with his Melling Racing team in this weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol after team owner Mark Melling appealed Knaus’ $5,000 fine and two-race suspension to NASCAR officials. Matt Chambers, crew chief of the Roush Racing #97 JR’s Garage Ford driven by Kurt Busch, received the same penalty as Knaus, but did not appeal it.(NASCAR.com)(3-22-2001)
