No. 2 Penske Racing Penalized

[yatesracing]

y's practice as penalty
Lee Spencer
Lee Spencer is senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. She also is a correspondent for "Around the Track" on FOX Sports Net.

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Updated Sep 17, 2010 5:57 PM ET

NASCAR generally doesn’t have to worry about teams bending the rules because competitors are quick to rat squads out looking for an advantage.

That was the case with the No. 2 Penske Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup team on Friday when the team was accused of harboring an extra set of tires acquired from the No. 64 Gunselman Motorsports team.

Crew chief Steve Addington called situation “a miscommunication with NASCAR.”

Addington was attempting to make a qualifying run with a pair of scuffed left tires and fresh “sticker” tires on the right. For his effort, driver Kurt Busch posted the 12th fastest lap with a speed of 132.864 mph.

“It was a mix-up and we got penalized for it,” said Addington who will lose a set of tires for Saturday’s two practice sessions. The No. 2 Dodge will have to run both sessions with just two sets of tires.

Teams are allowed six set of tires for practice and qualifying at New Hampshire. Addington will retain all eight sets of his tires for the Sylvania 300.

When NASCAR was asked about the situation, Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said the sanctioning body “won’t know (of any repercussions) for sure until the end of the second practice tomorrow.”

[DeeDee]

UPDATE: NASCAR officials said that no determination of a penalty will be made until the sanctioning body goes through the tire inventories of both teams. If a penalty is forthcoming, it will be imposed Saturday morning before practice starts. Each Sprint Cup team is allowed an aggregate six sets of tires at New Hampshire for three practice sessions and qualifying. The allocation for Sunday's Sylvania 300 Cup race is eight sets of tires and would be unaffected by any penalty (Sporting News)(9-18-2010)
UPDATE2: NASCAR held Kurt Busch on pit road for the first 15 minutes of Saturday's practice as punishment for being caught with an extra set of tires. Busch had to sit inside his #2 Miler Lite Dodge as cars zoomed around him during the first practice session. A NASCAR official stood in front of his car to signify he was being held. Behind his Dodge was the car of #64-Gunselman Motorsports, with driver Landon Cassill in the car. That team was also punished because it was their tires that Penske Racing was found to have on Friday.
NASCAR allows teams to use six sets of tires for practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday. Penske had the option of swapping its assigned six sets with other teams through Goodyear, and Busch's team apparently didn't turn a set in when it was given Gunselman's tires. That pushed their inventory to an illegal seven sets. NASCAR on Saturday stripped Busch's team of a set as further penalty, leaving him with five sets of tires for use over the two practice sessions. "The tire transfer wasn't done correctly," Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said, adding that Busch will be allowed the full allotment of eight sets for Sunday's opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Busch crew chief Steve Addington said his team did not use the seventh set of tires Friday, and its mistake was not giving Gunselman's team a set during practice.(Associated Press)(9-18-2010)~jayski

[racinfan]

Sounds stupid to me honestly.

[Dog]

That was a pointless penalty. Of course, any harsher would have been too harsh for the offense