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NASCAR issues penalties to Penske Racing for parts that were ‘not in the spirit of the rules’
Drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano lose 25 points each
Penske crew chiefs, car chiefs get six-week suspensions
(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — NASCAR hammered Penske Racing with suspensions, fines and points penalties on Wednesday, four days after officials confiscated rear-end parts on the team’s two cars before the NRA 500 in Texas.
Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano each were docked 25 points, while their crew chiefs, car chiefs, engineers and team manager all were suspended for six weeks. The crew chiefs also were fined $100,000 each.
The penalties, though severe, were expected after NASCAR said Saturday night that Penske’s rear-end housings were “not in the spirit of the rules.” NASCAR said in its penalty statment that there was a problem with the suspension mounts.
Logano said Wednesday that the fines and penalties won’t be a distraction for Penske Racing.
“We can definitely move ahead. We are ready for that and obviously we have talked a lot about it,” Logano told Speed on NASCAR RaceHub in a pre-taped segment. “Penske Racing has a lot of depth inside the company, and we can make adjustments to make sure we still run well.
“I think it goes to show we made some adjustments before the race started and we still were able to come home with a top-five finish,” he said, also noting Keselowski’s top-10 finish. “Proud of that effort in Texas, and especially after all of the adversity there. I think it says a lot about our company.”
Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 team was hit with a similar penalty last year for illegally modified C-posts at Daytona, though those penalties later were overturned on appeal. The Penske penalties are more severe in that they also include the engineers and team manager.
Before the race, NASCAR took the rear-end housings and other parts from the Nos. 2 and 22 cars and made the teams install new ones. Keselowski and Logano both finished in the top 10, but Keselowski later claimed his team was being unfairly targeted in an “absolutely shameful” way.
“The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything I believe in, and I’m not happy about it,” he said.
NASCAR chairman Brian France told Fox Business on Monday that the 2012 Sprint Cup champion would not be fined for his comments.
Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe, car chief Jerry Kelley and engineer Brian Wilson were suspended Wednesday along with their counterparts on Logano’s team, Todd Gordon, Raymond Fox III and Samuel Stanley. Team manager Travis Geisler also was suspended.
Penske released a statement saying it would appeal the penalties and would comment when appropriate.
Keselowski will drop from second to fourth in the Sprint Cup Series point standings. Logano drops from ninth to 14th — 24 points outside of the top 10.
Follow Jeff Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck
NASCAR slams Penske Racing with suspensions, penalties is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
NFL responds to Vilma, NFLPA lawsuits
NEW ORLEANS (AP) The NFL is again urging a federal judge to avoid interfering in Commissioner Roger Goodell’s efforts to discipline four players for the Saints’ cash-for-hits bounty pool.
In a response Wednesday to papers the players filed earlier this week, the NFL says its collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union gives Goodell the power to handle discipline involving conduct detrimental to football “at his discretion.”
U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan is considering the players’ request to overturn varying suspensions to Saints linebacker Jon Vilma (full season), Saints defensive end Will Smith (four games), free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove (seven games) and Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita (one game).
The players also want Berrigan to appoint a “neutral arbitrator” to handle any discipline in the matter.
The NFL argues that the players’ request “turns the CBA (and the law) on its head.”
“The parties agreed to “trust in (the Commissioner’s) personal judgment,” the papers filed by the NFL said.
The players have argued Goodell’s public comments about the matter, dating to before he had even disciplined to the players, prove he cannot be impartial, and therefore has violated the players’ industrial due process rights, which are also an inherent part the league’s labor deal.
The NFL responded that the standard to prove partiality for an arbitrator within the framework of a labor agreement is much higher than for a judge in a court case. The league cited case law stating, “Nothing in the parties’ contract requires arbitrators to arrive with empty heads.”
The NFL also argued its evidence in the bounty matter is strong enough to justify the commissioner’s actions, whether he was partial to one side or not.
“When all of the circumstances are considered, it is clear that the reasonable observer would not have to conclude that … the outcome is due to `bias,”‘ the NFL said. “The circumstances here include the fact that Plaintiffs do not dispute that the Saints program offered incentives for cart-offs and knockouts, and that cart-offs and knockouts were plays in which an opposing player was disabled or injured, at least temporarily.
“Not disputing that this program existed, Plaintiffs should not be heard to complain that an adverse appeal decision would have to be due to bias.”
NFL responds to Vilma, NFLPA lawsuits is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
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