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Джуниор оштрафован на 100 очков (полная картина произошедшего):

Illegal wing brackets on #8 car could mean penalty UPDATE 3 Penalized, 100pts, more: During pre-race inspection Saturday at Darlington Raceway, the #8 Budweiser Chevy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. was found to have illegal brackets used to mount the rear wing on the Nextel Cup Series' new Car of Tomorrow, an infraction series director John Darby said could result in the first COT penalty. Officials forced the team to remove the brackets, then reattach the wing with a proper set. "We have specific blueprints for all the parts on the car," Darby said. "[Series officials] are a little sensitive to those parameters." Asked if doctoring the rear wing on the COT is a substantial no-no, Darby responded, "Yes." The infraction will not affect Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s starting position for the rain-delayed Dodge Avenger 500, Darby said. Darby said he plans to speak with #8 crew chief Tony Eury Jr. further next week.

Tony Eury Jr. fully expects a penalty from NASCAR this week and #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. is prepared to help his crew chief pay it. NASCAR confiscated the rear wing mounts from Earnhardt Jr.'s car on Saturday before the Nextel Cup race at Darlington Raceway was postponed until Sunday due to rain. Eury called it an "interpretation." "It was a bad deal," he said. "It was a part that got put on there that shouldn't have. We've done a lot of offseason testing for NASCAR. There's been three different styles of brackets on there and it just happened to be one of those old-style brackets." Eury said the brackets were the same ones that weren't discovered during pre- or post-qualifying inspections. "It fit all of their templates," he said. "It just had a problem when you put [the angle] to where you should have." Eury said he tried to explain how to fix the problem to series director John Darby. "I was definitely not trying to get away with nothing, so you can take it for what it is," he said. "There's nothing I can do about it. Whatever they hand down, it certainly wasn't on purpose."

Hearing from sources that the Tony Eury Jr. will be fined $100,000 and be suspended for 6 weeks. In addition, the team will lose 100 owner and driver points. Eury is expected to appeal only the severity of the monetary fine. Tony Gibson will take Eury Jr's place as crew chief during the suspesion.

NASCAR announced that the #8 Chevy team has been penalized and fined for rule violations committed last week at Darlington. The #8 team was found to have violated Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules), and 20-3.1.3B (the NASCAR-approved upper and lower rear wing mounting brackets must not be modified to obtain a rear-wing angle of less than zero degrees or more than 16 degrees) of the 2007 NASCAR rule book. Crew chief Tony Eury Jr., has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until July 4, 2007 which includes this weekend’s Nextel All-Star Challenge and the next six Nextel Cup Series events. He has also been placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2007. Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., has been penalized with the loss of 100 Championship Driver points. Car owner Teresa Earnhardt has been penalized with the loss of 100 Championship Owner points. The violations were found during pre-race inspection on May 12

DEI Statement: Dale Earnhardt, Inc. issued the following statement:“The car in question was a brand new car for the #8 team and the brackets that were found to be nonconforming were built as test pieces before the final design was established by NASCAR. They should not have been on the car and with Tony Eury Jr. away from the track Thursday during inspection, the error was not caught. We do not question the infraction which is clearly spelled out in the NASCAR rule book. However, we have appealed the severity of the penalty.”

Comments from Eury: Tony Eury, Jr. spoke with PRN's Garage Pass concerning the punishment NASCAR hit him and the DEI #8 team with.
What is your reaction to the penalties?
“It was not a performance deal, we documented wind tunnel reports to show that, but the fact of the matter is it was not a NASCAR approved part. It was an honest mistake, but it was a big mistake. From my standpoint, I think it’s pretty crazy if you compare it to some of the other things that have happened over the year.
Will you appeal?
“Yeah I’m going to appeal it, just for the severity of the penalty. I know the part was wrong, but six weeks and a hundred grand that’s kind of ridiculous. Three years ago it would have a two thousand dollar fine.”
What about the team?
I’m perfectly happy with my team. I left them with 10 races to go and they did fine. I’m a 100-percent behind them. Tony Gibson will be the crew chief and I’m just one piece of the team. I’ve got a great group of guys and they’ll do just fine.”
Did you expect the penalty to be so harsh?
“They’ve been headed that way but where do they draw the line, where do they stop? But, like I told John Darby it was an honest mistake, but it’s a big one, so whatever he wanted to throw out, throw it. They’re going to set an example out of somebody. People think we get away with more than anybody so I kind of expected it. I expected the worse.”

POINTS:: the 100 pts penalty drops #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the Chase and to 14th in Drivers Points, now 721 behind the leader and 54 pts out of the Chase and vaults #26-Jamie McMurray into 12th and the final Chase spot. See the updated standing on my Drivers/Owners Pts standings after Darlington [and the penalty]

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