been asked, here is the best answer I have seen…..as usual, penalties are the descretion of NASCAR and most are a judgement call…. Q from fan: Why wasn’t Jimmie Johnson penalized on the last pit stop when his tire went out of his pits and the official stopped it? The official should not be allowed to do that, and if he does, it should be an automatic penalty! Could you please explain this? Jeff Hammond/FoxSports: A NASCAR official is there to referee and give assistance in the spirit of safety. For example, a tire crossing pit road is not in the best interest of NASCAR or anybody on pit road if an official can knock it down. What I believed and perceived at the time was the official saw the crew member trip and inadvertently release the tire while making an effort to carry the tire over pit wall. When the No. 48 team was penalized during the fifth caution, nobody on the team made an effort to catch the tire, and a NASCAR official wasn’t close to it. In that first instance, the car clearly had left the pit before they had gotten control of it. It’s a judgment call, and it’s easy for us to go back because we have instant replay. The officials on pit road do not have replays, and the officials in the tower are reluctant to make calls based off of replays if they aren’t able to see the entire circumstance. While some people may think the #48 team got by with one, I have a hard time criticizing what happened because we do not need that tire on pit road. NASCAR officials aren’t biased, and they have saved more than just Jimmie Johnson’s tires from rolling onto pit road. The officials are there to promote safety as much as anything else. If they can intervene and prevent something from happening, they won’t worry about penalties or any other kinds of ramifications after the fact.(3-13-2007)
