During opening day technical inspection Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR seized the #1 DEI Chevy driven by Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR said that during the tech inspection the car did not fit the roof templates. The team was allowed to try again and when they failed again the car was seized and will be taken to NASCAR’s R&D center for further evaluation. The team was told to bring their back up car out for inspection.(Cup Scene Online)(7-3-2008) UPDATE: #1-Martin Truex Jr. was furious with his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team Thursday after was car was seized by NASCAR officials because it failed to fit the critical roof templates, which are keys to the aerodynamic performance of the car. The immediate effects were obvious enough: Truex was forced to go to a backup after his primary car was taken prior to Thursday’s opening round of practice for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. His DEI team could not get the car ready in time to make the first of only two rounds of practice, which put Truex far behind the other drivers. In fact, of the 45 cars entered in Saturday’s race, Truex’s #1 DEI Chevy was the only one that failed to make a single lap in the first practice session. And that had the Mayetta, N.J., native irked. Asked what the team told him was the problem, Truex said, “Something about the roof template. I don’t know. I guess NASCAR wasn’t happy with the way it fit. It’s their ballgame, it’s their call. They took the car. We’re trying to get our backup (car) ready, they had to put an engine in it and get everything ready.” And he made it clear he was not happy with his team. “Somebody made a big mistake,” said Truex, who is expected to leave DEI after his contract expires at the end of 2008 [Haas/Stewart? Penske? RCR?]. “That shouldn’t happen at this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes. We’ll go on. Hopefully we’ll make the second practice.” [Happy Hour was rained out, so Truex got no practice](SPEEDtv), also expect Truec and the team to be penalized by NASCAR, usually announced on Tuesday, looking at at least a 100pt penalty, which could kill their Chase hopes as Truex is now 71 points back going into Daytona.(7-4-2008) UPDATE 2 – PENALTIES: NASCAR has issued penalties, fines and suspensions to the car #1 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rules infractions found last week at Daytona International Speedway. The car driven by Martin Truex Jr., was found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-3.8A (roof of the car does not conform to the specifications) of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rule book. As a result, Truex Jr. and car owner Teresa Earnhardt have been penalized 150 championship driver and 150 championship owner points, respectively. Both the crew chief, Kevin Manion, and the car chief, Gary Putnam, have been suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, suspended from NASCAR until Aug. 27 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Additionally, Manion has been fined $100,000. The infractions were discovered July 3 during opening day inspection.(NASCAR PR), the penalty moves Truex from 14th in drivers pts, -88 out of the Chase to 18th in drivers points, 238 points out of the Chase. See revised points standings on my Drivers/Owners Points after Daytona page.(7-8-2008)
