BROOKLYN, Michigan (Aug. 17) - The No. 18 and No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing teams in the Nationwide Series will likely face big penalties after efforts to alter the results of a chassis dyno test.

NASCAR inspectors, preparing to do tests on horsepower numbers following Saturday's Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway, found magnets under the gas pedals on the two Gibbs Toyotas.

Tony Stewart, making his last Nationwide start for the Gibbs team, finished third in the No. 20, and 18-year-old rookie Joey Logano was seventh in the No. 18. Those cars have been dominant this year and NASCAR, after earlier dyno tests, took steps to cut the horsepower in the Toyota engines in Nationwide.

This was apparently an effort to keep the current numbers from looking too strong in the test.

"In our post-race inspection - yesterday was the day we were going to chassis dyno cars - our inspectors discovered some shims that were placed on the gas pedal stop," Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, said Sunday. "It was magnets that were about a quarter-inch thick that prevented the accelerator from going 100 percent wide open.

"The intention was to manipulate the numbers that we get when we get our information and data off the dyno."

Pemberton said NASCAR officials will meet Monday and Tuesday to determine what penalties will be handed out.

"I anticipate that we haven't seen the end of it yet," Pemberton said when asked if the penalties were likely to be severe. "We historically don't make our decisions within a 24-hour period. It takes time to get everybody in a group and talk about it."

J.D. Gibbs, son of owner Joe Gibbs and president of the team, said JGR takes full responsibility for the actions of its employees.

"Let me just say that, first and foremost, that that was a really poor, foolish decision on the part of our key guys there at JGR," Gibbs said. "I want to apologize to NASCAR, to our partners, to Toyota guys. A couple guys chose to make a decision there that really impacts all of us."

He added that the big - and most frustrating - question is why was it done?

"I know they were probably frustrated from the standpoint that wanting to show that, 'Hey, we have less horsepower than ever before' and they wanted to make it look like we're handicapped even more than we actually were," Gibbs said. "I understand that, but that's not an excuse.

"For us, we kind of feel like, in the engine shop that's kind of a badge of honor. You win that engine dyno, good for you. That's kind of how we felt in the past few years and (chief engine builder) Mark Cronquist and those guys really feel like they want to win that thing.

"The way I look at it, to come back after you've been chopped, to come back and win it again, that's awesome," Gibbs noted. "That's a great story. That wasn't able to be told."

He said no matter what action NASCAR takes, the team will address the situation in-house.

"(We'll) figure out exactly what happened and those that were responsible," Gibbs said. "There's going to be punishment for that. That's just part of life. You can't do that."

Lee White, president of Toyota Racing Development, said the company is grateful that the team stepped up and took responsibility and made it clear Toyota was not involved.

"I found out about it halfway through the day session last night, when I went over there to see what was going on," White said. "I was surprised to see what was happening, and astonished and frankly incredulous. I couldn't believe it was happening because it's clearly defined in the entry forms that you don't do this sort of thing.

"But I'm sure Joe and J.D. will take care of that internally and, whatever fans think, they're going to think. We're just going to keep working on our stuff."

Pat Suhy, GM Racing group manager for NASCAR, said the actions by the Gibbs team raise more questions.

"It's not something that you like to hear about and you have to just question every chassis dyno that's ever been run on every Toyota," Suhy said. "You look at the (No.) 32 car (of Brian Vickers and Red Bull Racing), the 32 and the 18 and the 20 made about the same power the first run (on the dyno). When they took the magnet, or whatever this device was, out of the 18 and the 20, they both came up.

"What I don't know is if it's a Toyota problem, if it's a Joe Gibbs thing, how widespread is it and how long has it been going on, because a lot of what's been done (by NASCAR) has been based on the chassis dyno results. And, if they were always showing worse on the chassis dyno than actual, maybe (NASCAR) didn't go far enough.

"It's disappointing to hear that anybody, whether it's a manufacturer or a team or an individual on a team would go to any length to do that," Suhy added. "It's bad for the entire garage, I think."

 

ruh-roh...

 

Ruh-Roh is right, Nascar is going to smash these guys ***** with a steel hammer, the fines and penalties will be probably set a new precident, also look for some heads to roll internally as this casts Joe Gibbs Racing in a bad light.

 

I actually thought it would be even more severe.

NASCAR hands out penalties, suspensions to Gibbs
By MIKE CRANSTON, AP Sports Writer
50 minutes ago

Buzz Up PrintCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—NASCAR suspended seven crew members of Joe Gibbs Racing and stripped drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano of 150 points each Wednesday for cheating after last weekend’s Nationwide Series race.

Crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers were suspended indefinitely and fined $50,000 each, but NASCAR decided not to bar the cars from future races.

Owner Joe Gibbs said he would not appeal the penalties. He indicated he would also personally fine the crew members involved and suspend them through the end of the season.

“We want to apologize to NASCAR, all of our partners, all of our families at JGR, and all of our fans for the unfortunate incident that took place this past weekend in Michigan with our two Nationwide teams,” Gibbs said in a statement. “A poor decision was made by some key members of our organization, and 100 percent of the blame rests with us.”

No. 18 car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson and crew member Toby Bigelow and No. 20 car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek also received indefinite suspensions. JGR was docked 150 owner points for each car and the teams were placed on probation for the rest of the season.

After Stewart finished third in Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway in the No. 20 car and Logano was seventh in the No. 18, inspectors found magnets under the gas pedals of both cars when they were sent to the chassis dyno for examination. NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the teams were attempting to mask the cars’ true horsepower.

“In 17 years we have never had any representative of Joe Gibbs Racing knowingly act outside of NASCAR’s rules, and that is something we consider essential to how we operate on a daily basis,” Gibbs said. “What we have determined is that these individuals involved used extremely poor judgment in attempting to alter the results of NASCAR’s dyno test following Saturday’s Nationwide Series race in Michigan.

“Although in no way was anything done that might have altered the race outcome, these JGR employees attempted to circumvent the NASCAR rule book and that is unacceptable.”

The discovery of using magnets to try to prevent the gas pedal from reaching the floor came as Gibbs’ No. 18 and No. 20 Toyotas have dominated this season. They’ve combined to win 14 of 25 Nationwide races and NASCAR last month ordered all Toyota teams to cut about 15 horsepower in their motors.

The No. 20 car’s lead in the owners standing was cut to 168 over the No. 2 car owned by Richard Childress Racing.

The penalties, among the most severe handed down by NASCAR, comes as the sanctioning body continues to take a harder stance on cheating.

NASCAR took away 150 driver points from Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion was fined $100,000 and suspended six races for bringing an illegal car to Daytona in July.

But JGR, which has prided itself on running a squeaky-clean operation, had rarely come under scrutiny from NASCAR. Before last weekend, the last time a JGR car came under suspicion was in 2003 when Stewart’s car was impounded after failing inspection before it hit the track at Texas Motor Speedway.

The point deductions mean little to Stewart, who was racing in his final Nationwide race for JGR, and Logano, who has run a partial schedule since turning 18 earlier this year. But Gibbs said he didn’t agree with placing the drivers on probation, claiming they had no knowledge of the cheating.

NASCAR on Wednesday also fined Sprint Cup driver Reed Sorenson’s crew chief Donnie Wingo $25,000 after the car was found to have an improperly attached weight in Sunday’s race at Michigan.

 

The real damage is not in the points or dollar fines, but in the JGR and Toyota reputation... like steroids in baseball every accomplishment will be viewed with an increased scrutiny now.

 

I disagree about the Toyota part. Their reputation is having more hp than the other guys and all this does is leave that intact. JGR is the one who isn't exactly holding prayer sessions at their "how to cheat and get away with it" meetings. However, in that respect, they are just the same as everyone else, no better and not really much worse IMO. Rule books are meant to be pushed.

 

Gibbs is a great guy. I can't say enough good things about him. He is a Born-Again Christian, has always been a man of good character and high morals, and, true to form, didn't try to B.S. his way out of it, contest any of the actions his team members did, or appeal any of the NASCAR penalties levied against his team. Most other team owners would probably have vigorously denied everything and maybe have gone to court. Not only that, but Joe himself doesn't put up with cheating.....you'll notice he added his own fines to the guilty members.....and my guess is they will be lucky if he doesn't fire them. In fact, IMO, he should have fired that d***ce bag Tony Stewart long ago. Stewart makes me sick....he has deliberately caused more bumping accidents and spinouts than just about any other NASCAR driver I've ever seen, and then turns around and thumbs his nose at the officials. Not firing Stewart before is about the only questionable thing I've ever seen Gibbs do....perhaps he will this time.

 

Joe Gibbs was quick to point out that in 17 years on the Cup side he has never had a crew chief suspended, there was no reason to penalize the drivers, these shims were installed after the race so they were not present on the track, and Marshall if you think Tony Stewart has spun more drivers out than anyone then you don't remember the black number 3 Chevy, I'm not defending Stewart, just saw Big E do it to so many people without regard to life or limb it was a wonder someone wasn't killed.

 

Not good, but really I appreciate that Joe and J.D. didn't make denials or excuses, they accepted it, apologized, took their lumps, will (hopefully) take action, and will move on.

 

BUT someone was killed.

DUN dun Dunnnnnnnnn

 

I think you have to keep in mind that people are just looking for excuses to find fault with Toyota - with the issues with Waltrip last year with the "foreign substance" and then the Roush-Fenway missing swaybar thing, I think the Toyota reputation they need to avoid is that their teams are constantly cheating - so if they got caught doing "X", who knows what else they may be doing, but just haven't gotten caught yet?

 

That's pretty bad, i can't believe they tried something that stupid.

 

I know there are other dirty drivers.......and I watched Earnhardt drive for years before he was killed. But, IMO, he was not as much of a wrecking ball as Stewart.
And big E didn't openly flaunt and taunt NASCAR officials like Stewart. Like I said earlier, that is the one thing I don't understand about Gibbs.....why he keeps Stewart in the team. Otherwise, Gibbs is a great guy, and about as saintly as a guy in professional sports can get.

 

In case you missed it Marshall your prayers have been answered, Stewart is leaving at the end of the season to take over 50% of Hass CNC, it will be called Stewart Haas next year, he also hired Ryan Newman as his second driver

 

Thanks. Let's see what kind of record Stewart Haas will have in the cheating department.

I feel good for Gibbs now that Stewart is leaving. Despite Stewart's record of having won the NASCAR title (partly by bumping and spinning everyone else out), Gibbs deserves better than that.