Penalty? Officials could assess a penalty on [#31 Robby] Gordon and his crew for using “old” tires in the closing laps. A NASCAR rule, dating to the days when teams would soak tires in softening chemicals for extra speed, appears to require teams to finish the race on tires actually mounted at the track, according Andy Graves, manager of Marlin’s runner-up [#40] team. Gordon finished the race on a set of tires that had been originally mounted at Martinsville last month; the tires would have been slightly harder than fresher tires – normally that would be a significant disadvantage, but here, on a day when tires were actually too soft, older and harder tires would have been a bit of an edge, not in speed but durability. NASCAR officials offered no word on the issue.(Winston Salem Journal)(11-24-2001)
