As we all know, Toyota was told to squeeze some horsepower out of the cars before the ORP race.  I'm sure you all know as well about the random engine tests NASCAR performs in postrace inspections.  They decided to do that random test following Saturday's Nationwide Series CARFAX 250 in Michigan.  JGR now faces some harsh penalties from NASCAR for some big-time tampering.

The 18 and 20 cars, this week driven by Joey Logano and Tony Stewart respectively, were both among the cars which had their engines placed on the dynomometer for testing in postrace inspections Saturday evening.  When both the 18 and 20 engines were placed on the dyno, the cars were found to have a manipulation to the throttles.  This led to an untrue horsepower reading on the dyno.  NASCAR says what JGR did had no effect on the outcome of Saturday's race.  However, what they did do was use a magnet so that NASCAR officials could not get a true reading on the dyno.  NASCAR is calling this "a blatant attempt to interfere with the inspection process."

Here's what I have a problem with.  First off, JGR must have known that the horsepower in their Toyota engines exceeded the limit placed on them before the race at ORP.  If they didn't have an excess of horsepower, they'd have no reason to tamper with the dyno reading.  So I believe they knew they'd get caught.  This was an attempt to get the horsepower reading under the limit, and they got caught red-handed.  I don't think any team would interfere with the inspection process like this unless they knew they had something to hide from NASCAR officials.

Penalties are expected this week from NASCAR, and JGR deserves whatever is thrown at them for this interference.  Let NASCAR do their job.  Don't screw around during postrace inspections.  I've heard of some pretty crazy infractions found during prerace and postrace inspections in the past, but this is the first time I can remember a team actually trying to manipulate something to screw around with the inspection.

NASCAR should not be light on this.  It's one thing if the 18 and 20 cars were found to have an amount of horsepower over the "legal limit" per se, but tampering with equipment to hide the real horsepower number is going to make things even worse for the organization.  NASCAR confiscated the engines and will determine whether to test them further.  Umm, NASCAR, if I were you I would definitely test them again.  If you know for a fact you didn't get a true reading because of the magnets, the only way you'll get a true reading is to TEST THEM AGAIN!  If you don't, I'd have to ask you, are YOU smarter than a 5th grader?

A spokesman for Gibbs says that the parts they used were all legal, and that there was nothing out of the ordinary.  Thank you, Captain Obvious.  Nobody said you had an unauthorized part on either of your cars.  That's not the issue.  What you did AFTER the race is where the problem lies.  Your cars were all legal, but NASCAR does state in the rulebook that you DO have to adhere to their directives following each race.  Using a magnet to manipulate the throttle in 2 cars to mess up a dyno reading is NOT adhering to their directives!

Here's the rule directly out of the NASCAR handbook:
“From time to time, NASCAR may determine, in the interest of competition, that it is necessary or appropriate to undertake an analysis of the performance capabilities of a car, car part, component or equipment,” the rulebook states. “The Competitor shall take whatever steps are requested by NASCAR Officials for this purpose.”

That's NASCAR inspection 101 right there.  Screw around with it, and you're going to get the book thrown at you.  If JGR does receive a penalty this week, it should not be a light one.  They knowingly interfered with the inspection process, and no NASCAR fan, JGR supporter or not, should complain about how JGR was treated unfairly.  When you mess with the inspection and blatantly violate the rule that says "do what we tell you to do because we're going to put some cars on the chassis dyno for further random testing," you deserve whatever penalty is handed down to you.

SceneDaily.Com [NASCAR]