NASCAR dusted off the ol' penalty paddle Wednesday, and did so in historic form. Carl Long, a part-time driver that has likely sold fewer team T-shirts in his career than Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car number old or new, was slapped with a $200,000 fine after NASCAR found his engine to be too big during last weekend's All-Star festivities.
The dollar figure was the largest ever docked by the sanctioning body, and very easily could end Long's racing career.
In addition to Long's obviously substantial monetary fine, his crew chief was suspended for 12 Sprint Cup Series races and banned from the sport until Aug. 31. He'll remain on probation with the sport until the end of the year.
According to the Scene Daily, Long's violation occurred during Friday's practice for the Sprint Showdown at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Prior to the race in which Long drew a second-p[ace starting spot, he changed out the engine but still managed just three laps in the race before exiting the race.
Long was penalized the money, had a crew chief suspended and lost both driver and owner points thanks to engine that measured larger than the standard 358 cubic inches. Prior to the Showdown, Long had not qualified for a race in the Sprint Cup Series since 2006.
Without a doubt, Long's penalty reached the far end of the NASCAR spectrum thanks to their extensive work on keeping the engine packages among all teams extremely equal. What's even more interesting is that such an error isn't one that can be caused by a mistake, especially if the engine was purchased from a supplier.
Simply, engines don't just get bigger without human intent, much less do competitive engine shops keep out-of-bounds engine parts in their possession.
The 41-year-old driver has also doubled as the crew chief for driver Eric McClure in the Nationwide Series. It'll be interesting to see if Long can continue with his part-time and under-funded team with such a fine levied against him.
Though I'm not sure on how NASCAR treats such penalties, I'd imagine that they require the monetary penalties to be paid in full before Long's team could enter another race.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-21-2009 @ 7:06AM
illsell4u said...
Who?
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5-21-2009 @ 7:44AM
Kim said...
I agree, Mike. I am confused. First off, who is Long? Second, why would he be in contention to compete or race his way into the All-Star event in the first place if he hasn't even qualified for a race since 2006? That's three seasons ago (head shaking). Although I liked the new format for the race this past weekend, I am confused by how the drivers were picked to participate.
Kim
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5-21-2009 @ 11:38AM
bobrav said...
Confused?, in the time it took you to write yor comments, you could have easily looked up the qualifying format online. (?)
5-21-2009 @ 8:34AM
obamaizadope said...
Who's big bad Nascar going to target next, Morgan Shepherd?
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5-21-2009 @ 1:21PM
Susan said...
Kim, The qualifying for the pre-All Star Race was rained out. They let all of the cars in by order of how they were scheduled to qualify.
Susan
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5-21-2009 @ 6:28PM
Welcome Dawn said...
Kim's point was "WHO IS LONG" in the first place.
I do understand that the open wheel boys draw names from the stands for drivers but I was certain that NASCAR dosen't.
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5-22-2009 @ 4:18AM
Mattswad said...
From what I've read, the engine was .17 of a cubic inch too big...or 1/3 of the size of a human hair. How and why would Carl's team intentionally do this?
Also, why don't you just google Carl Long. If you were a true fan of the former sport, you would have KNOWN who he is 10 years ago.
3rd--The Sprint Showdown (QUALIFYING race for the All Star event) is OPEN (hence why it used to be called the Winston Open) to all drivers and teams who have ATTEMPTED at least 1 race in the past year. Carl Long finished 16th in the Duel 150 Qualifying race for the Daytona 500. But guess you must have missed that.
THAT is why/how he's eligible.
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5-23-2009 @ 5:51PM
carsbr549 said...
come on nascar there are tolerances on everything he wasent even over by 1/4 of a cubic inch give him a break
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5-24-2009 @ 8:29PM
Robert Digges said...
What is Nascar trying to do get rid of competitors that are not doing well in the sport to make there job easier, this is America you know. Or do they think there troppings don't stink, well let me tell you something Nascar you droped a big load on a little guy and you know what you know what It stinks. Take another good look at it and wipe it clean.
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6-12-2009 @ 3:40AM
Ken said...
Geoff,
You say "..engines don't just get bigger without human intent,.."
You're just wrong, pal, especially about this engine.
Carl's engine was essentially purchased from Earnhardt-Ganassi. It was used in the #46 during practice for the Sprint Showdown but..., it ran way, way hot and essentially blew during practice.
Now what do we all know about things that heat up? Riiight., they expand. Internal temps in Carl's engine conceivably reached some of the metal's melting points. Warping and disfiguring the block, crank, bearings, rods, pistons, rings, heads, valves, on and on...
Moving on, we're talking about a displacement overage about BB or pea size on an engine that has just swollen quite disproportionately in many of the wrong places. It has worn bearings, rods, pistons, cylinder walls, crank & mains. And, Geoff, we're talking that much displacement overage through all eight jugs.
The answer is, this engine DID get bigger but not through human intent, rather through unwitting human intervention.
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