Carl Edwards' No. 99 Ford Fails Inspection

Carl Edwards may have won his second race in a row in the Sprint Cup Series, but his crew chief might be sitting out three times that many after the Dish Network No. 99 failed post-race inspection Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

From the NASCAR Scene:

LAS VEGAS – Carl Edwards and the Las Vegas-winning No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team face possible penalties after NASCAR discovered the lid from the oil tank was off after the race.

That is a violation of NASCAR rules similar to infractions found after Nationwide Series qualifying at Daytona last month. Five teams were caught with oil tank covers that were loose after qualifying at Daytona and all were fined, docked points and had their crew chiefs suspended.

The Nationwide Series teams were all assessed penalties involving six-race crew chief suspensions and $15,000 fines for their Daytona infractions, and I'd expect that ante to rise for Carl Edwards' team.

The infraction -- which I'll be the first to admit I'm no genius at understanding -- happens when teams have a loose or missing oil tank lid, which would allow a possible advantage due to air venting of some sort.

NASCAR frowns on it so much because the oil can create a safety hazard to the driver in the cockpit.

Edwards' race win will stand at Vegas, but the points, suspensions, and monetary fines could be large.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

3-03-2008 @ 10:39AM

jerry poston said...

This is a stupid rule. It does not help cars or drivers. If there is oil on track then fine somebody. Nascar wake up

3-03-2008 @ 7:05AM

Carl Ingerson said...

So why don't they strip him of the win..This is considered cheating. If the crew chief is punished, so should everyone else, including the driver.

3-03-2008 @ 7:12AM

john said...

I guess a win is a win, makes you wonder why they dont cheat every week! 50,000 dollar fine is small compared to 1 million for winning.

3-03-2008 @ 7:33AM

Dave said...

I agree with John . If they take the win away from the driver and put him at last place for the race it will keep them from cheating.

3-03-2008 @ 7:43AM

Butch said...

When a Car fails inspection after the race they should have to be put last in the finishing order. that is the only thing that will stop it.

3-03-2008 @ 9:12AM

HDHOG12 said...

TAKING POINTS AWAY HURTS THE DRIVERS MORE THAN THE FINE OR TAKING THE WIN AWAY.

3-03-2008 @ 8:11AM

steve said...

they should have been penalized for the tire rollin across pit road for the second time.

3-03-2008 @ 8:29AM

Aaron said...

Do you really think that the driver would put his health at risk by knowingly having the oil cap removed? This is frowned on because of the hazard to the driver? What about the cars that finish mid pack or down laps with the same issue? I believe were talking about a safety issue here not a cheating advantage. You guessed it, I'm an Edwards fan........

3-03-2008 @ 8:31AM

There was a camera man in the way of the guy whom is supposed to catch the tire....

3-03-2008 @ 8:22AM

Traci said...

I think that the team as a whole should be penalized for the actions that they took. The WIN should be a LAST place. Show the world that cheaters don't win. NASCAR is setting a bad example for our kids.

Lee Crane said...

NASCAR didn't penalize Edwards on the tire incident because it was "not his fault". A camera man got in the way. What's the difference from that and what happened to Robby Gordon? Gordon was supplied parts from the manufacturer. He was not at fault. He thought he was doing everything right. Where's the fairness. Edwards should have been penalized for the tire incident.

3-03-2008 @ 8:37AM

bonnie piccirillo said...

If thats the case with the Oil Cap then the win should go to Jr. He did have the fastest legal car on the track.

3-03-2008 @ 8:41AM

99fan said...

if anybody REALLY thinks that a missing oil cap is the reason carl SMOKED everybody ,whats your excuse for last week? drivers can wreck each other just because they are mad at them and not get a fine,but a missing oil cap means losing points!!!!! im sure everybody wants carl to lose points, because thats the only way your driver can catch him!!

3-03-2008 @ 8:44AM

Bruce R Ridenour said...

They should leave them all alone and let them build race cars, no restrictions, may the best man or woman win.

3-03-2008 @ 8:46AM

post 10.... if the only way jr wins is because somebody "CHEATED" ,what does that say about jr?

3-03-2008 @ 8:56AM

joe ingenito said...

It's all about the chevy fans,and the jr. and gordon and johnson lovers,you can even hear the bias in the tv broadcast,fords are out numbered 2 to 1 in amount of cars at the track,there is basically no factory support like GM and Mopar, ford is using what amounts to 90's technology and they can still hang with the chevy's and mopars on any given day,give roush and his boys there just due.

3-03-2008 @ 9:27AM

My said...

I agree that regardless of who it is, if a "team" does something that is against the Nascar Rules then they should be fined driver's points, owner's points, suspend the crew cheif and fine everyone involved. I'm sure that alot of the drivers are not aware of some of these things but that would put make them a little more aware of what is going on and make sure everything is legal.

As for the tire thing, the 2nd time, I agree that camera man should not have been there. However, Nascar was wrong in not throwing the caution when there was a wreck on the track and Edwards and Kenseth were in the pits. Any other time the yellow would have come out right away.

I'm not ragging on Edwards because he did have a strong car, but was he strong because his team cheated?????????????????

3-03-2008 @ 9:26AM

IT WAS VERY UNFAIR FOR CARL TO GET HIS SPOT BACK BECAUSE OF THE CAMERAMAN, LAST YEAR WHEN THE TRACK FELL APART ON JEFF GORDON, HE HAD TO GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE. NASCAR NEEDS TO STOP CHANGING THE RULES IN THE MIDDLE OF EVERY RACE.

3-03-2008 @ 9:25AM

HARVEY said...

Come on the win should stand. The oil cap missing did not make Carls car go any faster. I am not a Edwards fan but he is a good clean driver.The tire deal was not the crews fault.[GET THE PEOPLE OUT OF THE PITS WHO SHOULD NOT BE THERE]The crew man should have knock the guy on his butt for being in the way take your pictures from some place else.If this has happen before with the oil caps the need to find out why it is happening because Mopar,Ford,Chevys and the other brand of car all have this oil tank in them.I think NO fines NO nothing the race is over it is not like they messed with spoilers,shocks,springs, ect.it was a oil cap.Find out why they come off or loose.

3-04-2008 @ 9:17AM

Jerry said...

About the oil cap: It is a safety rule for the safety of the driver, but, it is a rule that was broken!

About the second tire rolling out of the pit box: The Crew Chief is responsible for what happens in their pit box and he should have been on top of the situation BEFORE the incident happened.

NASCAR needs to get their stuff straight and Edwards should have been disqualified in my opinion, NOT sent to the back. Start parking these so called cheaters WILL wake up everybody concerned.