Newman Penalized, Many Team Changes
Ryan Newman’s no. 12 Alltel Dodge failed post-race inspection on Sunday when officials discovered that his car was too high. Newman – who finished fourth in the race – was docked 25 driver points, and Crew Chief Roy McCauley was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until December 31, 2008.
Officials at Penske Racing did not reveal any plans to appeal the penalty, but did appear that they’re ready to move on from the incident. Penske Racing VP, Mike Nelson, stated, “It is always our intention to follow NASCAR’s rules, and we regret this mistake. We look forward to getting back to the track this weekend, and we are focused on having a strong run at Phoenix.”
Newman had moved into 8th place in the points standings after Sunday’s race, but now drops to 10th. He is 189 points behind points leader Jeff Burton, and only 56 points ahead of 13th place Matt Kenseth.
In other news:
- After racing for the team for less than a year, Jeremy Mayfield has parted ways with Haas-CNC Racing. After finishing 5 of the 7 races this year in 30th or worse and dropping down to 36th in points, Mayfield decided it was time to move on in search of a more promising opportunity. The empty seat in the no. 70 ride is now being returned to the same driver that occupied it last season, Johnny Sauter. Last season Sauter had an average finish of 26th and finished 30th overall in the drivers points standings. This weekend at Phoenix will be his first time driving a Cup car in 2008, but will now be forced to qualify on speed due to the team’s position in the standings.
- After a rigorous week in the news last week, Kyle Petty will reassume the driving duties behind the wheel of the no. 45 Dodge this weekend for Petty Enterprises. After a lot of talk about what they needed to do to improve the race team, they decided to give Kyle the week off at Texas and replace him with Chad McCumbee, who failed to qualify for the race. This week they’re trying something new, and have hired Stewart Cooper as the team’s new Crew Chief. Cooper has no experience as a Crew Chief in the Cup Series, but did work a stint in the Nationwide Series with Braun Racing. He replaces Billy Wilburn, who has been reassigned as the Crew Chief for one of Petty’s test teams.
- Bill Davis Racing has named Marty Gaunt as the team’s new Vice President. Gaunt has held similar roles with Penske Racing and Team Red Bull. They’ve reassigned the former VP, Mark Chambers, to be the new General Manager, and they’ve also hired Jim Thomas to be the team’s director of marketing. Thomas was previously the director of business development for Sullivan Worldwide Marketing Group. The team currently fields only one Sprint Cup Series team (Dave Blaney) and 4 Craftstman Truck Series teams, though they still aim to lock on long-term sponsorship for Jacques Villeneuve to drive a second Cup car for them in the Cup.
Tags: bill davis racing, billy wilburn, braun racing, chad mccumbee, cnc haas racing, Craftsman Truck Series, dave blaney, jacques villeneuve, jeremy mayfield, johnny sauter, Kyle Petty, marty gaunt, NASCAR, Penske Racing, petty enterprises, ryan newman, Sprint Cup Series, stewart cooperRelated Stories
POSTED IN: NASCAR
1 opinion for Newman Penalized, Many Team Changes
James
Apr 10, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Is it just me, or is docking 25 points to Newman’s team not very ‘consistent’ with what they’ve been handing out all year?
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: