NASCAR confiscated the front shocks on Tim Sauter’s #36 Chevy after Saturday night’s Busch Silver Celebration 250 at Gateway . NASCAR spokesperson Tracey Judd said the shocks will be “evulauted further” at NASCAR’s research and development center in Concord, N.C. Sauter’s McGill Motorsports Chevrolet was one of the random cars NASCAR picked to be inspected after the race. Any penalties would be announced early this week.(SceneDaily.com)(7-30-2006)
UPDATE: NASCAR announced today penalties and fines that have been issued among two NASCAR Busch Series teams as a result of rule violations at Gateway. Ricky Pearson, crew chief for the #36 Chevy driven by Tim Sauter, was fined $15,000 and suspended from NASCAR for the next two events beginning with the Aug. 5 race at O’Reilly Raceway Park for violating Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used that do not conform to NASCAR rules: Section 20A-12.3-I (unapproved shock absorber piston bleed holes). The violations were discovered during post-race inspection on July 29. Additionally, Sauter will lose 50 NASCAR Busch Series driver points and team owner John McGill will forfeit 50 NASCAR Busch Series owner points. Also, Greg Tester, crew chief for the #71 Chevy driven by Ron Young, was fined $2,000 violation of Sections 12-4-A and 12-4-Q (Section 20A-12.1A(8) (jacking bolt must be made of solid magnetic steel). The violation was discovered during opening-day inspection on July 28.(NASCAR PR)(8-1-2006)
UPDATE 2: McGill Motorsports announced that they will formally appeal the penalties levied against the team for the use of unapproved shock absorbers at Gateway. “McGill Motorsports does not have a shock specialist on its staff, said John McGill. We have a shock absorber lease program with a third party. While we do not build the shocks in-house, we accept the responsibility for our suppliers and we are not disputing that the parts do not conform to the rules. The supplier of the shocks acknowledges that the parts used were legal in both the Cup and Truck Series and was an oversight that those parts were not within the Busch Series rulebook. The supplier of the shock absorbers is standing behind their products and will participate in the appeal, added McGill.(McGill PR)(8-1-2006)
