NASCAR officials announced they have penalized NASCAR Busch Series crew chief Russ Strupp for rules violations (shoulder harness) discovered in inspection prior to the Jani-King 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, TX. Strupp, crew chief of the #17 BGN team, was fined $5,000 and suspended from the next two NASCAR Busch Series races (suspension ends April 25, 2001). Strupp was penalized under Section 12-4-Q in the 2001 NASCAR Busch 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)(4-6-2001)
UPDATE: On April 18, 2001, the National Stock Car Racing Commission heard and considered the appeal of Reiser Enterprises concerning the penalties assessed against crew chief, Russell Strupp. The appeal pertained to penalties issued by NASCAR concerning the seat belt shoulder harness on the #17 car in the NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division event held at Texas Motor Speedway in March of 2001. The Commission finds the following: The rules violation was clear in light of the fact that the Appellant admitted that the team cut off the date tag on the belt. The Rule Book requires the date of manufacture to remain visible on the belts at all times. The Appellant made a compelling argument that the Reiser race team has a strong record of safety consciousness, which the Commission agreed with. However, due to the admitted rule infraction, the Commission upheld the finding. The penalty, while serious, is consistent with other penalties that NASCAR has issued in 2001 for comparable infractions. Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the penalty assessed by NASCAR. The Appellant has the right, under Section 15 of the NASCAR Rule Book, to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner.(NASCAR PR)
AND Car chief Bobby Bakeeff will serve as crew chief of the #17 Visine Chevy this weekend for the NASCAR Busch Series Subway 300 from Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Bakeeff will assume crew chief duties for the Visine Racing team while Russ Strupp completes his two-race suspension(Keystone Marketing)(4-19-2001)
