Sprint Cup champion #2-Brad Keselowski, teammate #22-Joey Logano and their Penske Racing teams face potential penalties as NASCAR confiscated rear-end housing parts and pieces from their cars during prerace inspection Saturday at Texas Motor Speedways. The teams frantically worked to replace the pieces an hour prior to the scheduled start of the NRA 500. ‘Were taking (rear-end) housing and some other things. & Its a group of pieces that surrounds the rear suspension area’ NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said. ‘Its just something that is not in the spirit of the rules.” Pemberton said the sanctioning body would not eject the crew chiefs from the speedways and the drivers would keep their starting positions for the race Saturday night. Any penalties could be announced as early as Monday, although NASCAR typically waits until Tuesday to announce penalties. Possible penalties typically could include points penalties, fines and crew suspensions. ( Sporting News )(4-13-2013) UPDATE: Keselowski was able to keep his 16th-place starting spot. But both teams might be in for penalties due to parts that Robin Pemberton, NASCARs vice president for competition, told reporters were ‘not in the spirit of the rule.” ‘In pre-race inspection they felt like there was something that was a questionable item that they wanted replaced’ said Travis Geisler, Penskes director of competition. ‘We replaced all the parts in question. They have them all. Were working through the process here as it goes to get through inspection. Unfortunately a little tighter timeline here than wed like to be on, but I certainly understand their position and dont disagree with where they are.” The Penske vehicles were the last two vehicles in the garage area, and Keselowskis car successfully cleared the laser inspection platform as driver introductions wound down. Crewmen continued to scramble under the rear of the #22 car, which needed three passes to get though the laser platform, and passed the final stages of inspection just as the command to start engines was given. ‘Thats what these guys do for a living, so its not really a crisis’ Geisler said of the 11th-hour changeover. ‘We do those kinds of things during practice at times. Everybodys set up for it. Its obviously not expected at this point in the day, but thats racing. You have to expect the unexpected, and thats the way it goes.” Having gotten the cars on track in time for the start of the race, the Penske team now faces the prospect of penalties from NASCAR. ‘We always have a good, open dialogue with them. Theyll keep us in the loop about how they feel about whats going on there’ Geisler said. ‘Im sure well all discuss that in the upcoming days.”( NASCAR.com )(4-14-2013) UPDATE 2: If garage gossip is to be believed, somebody dropped a dime on NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski and his Penske Racing team at Texas Motor Speedway. The story blowing like wildfire Monday through NASCAR goes like this: Keselowski was parked at Texas next to Jimmie Johnson, while teammate Joey Logano was further down the garage parked next to Jeff Gordon. The assigned spots gave Hendrick Motorsports crews crystal clear views of the Penske cars all weekend As the story goes, there may have been eavesdropping on team chatter over the scanner during practice runs. Did someone from Hendrick ask NASCAR to take a closer look at the Penske cars? On race day, NASCAR inspectors were indeed sniffing around looking for an infraction. What they found in the rear-end housings on the #2 and #22 Fords were confiscated – Logano barely made the start of the race – though NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton curiously avoided a very important word in explaining the problem with the Penske cars. Pemberton never said the cars were illegal. When the dust settles, crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon will likely be sidelined for several weeks while Keselowski and Logano are stripped of critical points in the standings. Remember, it will be for something that hasnt been deemed illegal, at least not yet. Its more likely this is a case of something in development that the Penske crew was trying and NASCAR decided was too close to the edge. And theres the rub in all of this. NASCAR gets to decide when a team has crept too close to a non-existent line in the rule book. Should the Penske organization get hit with stiff penalties this week, then NASCAR needs to answer the what, why and how to help everyone understand exactly what is and isnt ‘in the spirit of the rule.”( Associated Press )
