Teams brawled. Stars erupted. Tension grew. The overhaul of the Chase for the Sprint Cup was the most impactful of many changes in NASCAR last season, and the ripple effects were pervasive, particularly during the final 10-race playoff that featured eliminations, points resets and the debut of a winner-take-all finale between four finalists. Yet there was another fundamental shift in Sprint Cup philosophy that was as notable for its lack of discernible presence. For the first time in its 66-year history, the NASCAR rule book delineated predetermined penalties. A six-tier system – with a “P6″ being the most draconian punishment – was introduced amidst predictions that crew chief suspensions, points deductions and whopping fines could become prevalent. The result? There were 81 penalties in Sprint Cup – the lowest number in a season for a series that averaged 205 penalties a year since detailed record-keeping began in 2000. Only one penalty resulted in a major crew chief suspension – a six-race benching for Darian Grubb after Denny Hamlin’s #11 Toyota failed inspection after the Brickyard 400. That penalty wasn’t appealed, which wasn’t uncommon last season after several years of constant challenges. There was only one appeal across its national series in 2014 after an average of 12 appeals annually since 2000. That led to an absence of the oft-chaotic scenes surrounding appeals hearings at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C., where news media stakeouts to cover large infractions were common. (Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing won noteworthy appeals in 2013.) NASCAR officials credited the concrete penalty structure with helping reduce such contentious encounters.(USA Today)(2-8-2015)
