Notebook: Waltrip’s truck crew chief fined $25K

Notebook: Waltrip’s truck crew chief fined $25K

NASCAR has fined Vision Aviation Racing crew chief Doug Howe $25,000 and docked team owner Billy Ballew 25 points for a spoiler violation on the race-winning truck driven by Michael Waltrip in the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race last Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
Waltrip, who celebrated the emotional victory on the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death, does not get points in the truck series, so there was no driver points penalty.
On the final lap, Waltrip’s spoiler broke and the right half of the spoiler was laying flat. As a result, it did not meet the minimum angle requirements in post-race inspection. If it had happened before the final lap, Waltrip likely would have been black-flagged.
Waltrip passed Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Elliott Sadler on the final lap with the broken spoiler.
“I'm just so thankful it hung on 'til the checkered 'cause I didn't even know it was an issue,” Waltrip said afterward. “I didn't even see it 'til after the race.”
NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Friday night that it appeared the piece had broken and there were no illegal pieces that would suggest the violation was done on purpose.
“I asked him how he did that, where is the switch for that,” Sadler said after the race. “I guess it came down when we had the green-white-checkered (finish). I mean, it definitely helps his truck as far as drag. When he pulled out, he went by me. I was like, 'Wow, he's fast. ' I tried to side draft off of him and I couldn't.
“It definitely helped him. But I think he still would have won anyway. He made a really good move off of Turn 4.”
Howe also was placed on probation for the remainder of the season.
Burton : NASCAR does not lack personality
Jeff Burton says he doesn’t want to be the voice of the Sprint Cup garage, but what he has to say nevertheless is worth heeding.
Burton takes issue with those who say NASCAR racing has no personality. Though NASCAR went through a phase where the words and actions of drivers were deliberately sanitized, the pendulum now has swung in the opposite direction.
After winning last Thursday’s second Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race, Burton had plenty of ammunition—the feel-good story of Brian Keselowski, who raced his way into the Daytona 500, as well as the stature of self-made team owner Richard Childress, who fields the cars Burton drives.
“I get really frustrated and perturbed and upset when I hear people say our sport doesn't have personality, there's no personalities in our sport,” Burton said. ”They don't know what the hell they're talking about. Things like that (Keselowski) are what our sport's about.
“Our sport's about passion, it's about desire, it's about staying up till 4:00 in the morning worrying about what's going to happen. It's about having dirt underneath your fingernails, working. ...
“That's what our sport is about. If you look at the drivers, the car owners, the crew chiefs, the guys changing tires, there's people that had a dream and busted their ass to make it happen. It's for every sport, for every business. But it's what separates and makes our sport special, is it takes heart, it takes desire, and it (takes) passion.”
And that was all before Trevor Bayne put the Wood Brothers Ford in victory lane in the Daytona 500.
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(February 2011)