JGR Teams Caught Red Handed

Before the Sprint Cup Series racers even hit the track for practice there was controversy in the garage area. The No. 11, No. 18 and No. 20 team out of Joe Gibbs Racing were found to have illegal oil pans on their cars that were never submitted for approval by Nascar. The teams were forced to replace the parts before they took to the track. Now the talk is about what penalties, if any, there will be.

It was originally reported that there would be no repercussions because the violation was discovered before the teams hit the track. But now, Nascar is saying that it would be similar to the penalties Michael Waltrip Racing faced at Texas last season. MWR's No. 00 and 56 teams as well as the JTG Racing No. 47 car and the No. 13 Germain Racing team (both built in the MWR shop) were found to have radiator pans that weren't approved by the sanctioning body. The 47 and 13 teams were penalized 50 driver and owner points and $75,000, while the 00 and 56 crew chiefs were fined $25,000 and no points were deducted. The pans weighed anywhere from 25 to 45 pounds depending on the team. Because of this Nascar classified the pans as "unapproved ballast weight" and that they "should weigh a couple of pounds at best."

Fast forward to Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, Michigan. The oil pans on the Gibbs Racing cars were reported to weigh about 25 pounds apiece. Other teams oil pans weigh about four pounds. Nascar said that there probably wouldn't be a points penalty, just a cash fine because they don't have to judge if a part is too light or too heavy because they were never used in the track. That's baloney. If the intent to cheat is there, there should still be a points penalty involved.

For a team owned by such a Bible banging holy roller like Joe Gibbs, they sure to get involved in cheating scandals a lot. Lets all remember the Nationwide (then Busch) Series race at Michigan in 2008 when the JGR No. 18 and 20 cars had magnets in the throttle to prevent it from running 100 percent wide open. Now this. You can't tell me that the team was not trying to gain more front downforce by having an oil pan that weighed about 20 pounds more than a normal one. But Nascar won't look at it from that perspective because the parts were never used on track? Give me a break. Typical Nascar favoritism and I can guarantee you that his Holiness, Mr. Gibbs, and his team will all hide behind their Bibles and talk about how they didn't mean to do anything wrong. I wonder what Jesus would have to say about your team's recent rule breaking Mr. Gibbs.