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closeNASCAR voids victory after violation found
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Wednesday, Apr. 23, 2008
Peyton Sellers and Austin Dillon, teammates for Harrisburg, N.C.-based Andy Santerre Motorsports, finished first and second Saturday in the Camping World East season opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
Late Tuesday, however, NASCAR informed Santerre the official finish had been revised with Dillon, the grandson of Sprint Cup team owner Richard Childress, declared the winner and Sellers moved down to the 30th and last finishing position.
Crew chief H.C. Sellers was also suspended for three races.
The win was taken from Sellers after NASCAR found one of the shock absorbers on his No. 44 Chevrolet had a base valve, which helps control the flow of fluid. Shocks with base valves are not allowed in the series.
“We admit there was a rules infraction,” Santerre said.
“It was a shock to us as much as it was unintentional.”
Santerre said his team had not torn the shocks down since getting them from a team that used them in another series. The shocks were put on Sellers’ car in a test and three were changed before Saturday night’s race. But the right-rear shock was still on the car.
Santerre said he doesn’t understand why a win was taken from Sellers when that did not happen after Carl Edwards’ Ford did not pass inspection after Edwards won a Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas.
“What makes me any different from Jack Roush, other than he’s got a lot more money than I do?” Santerre said.
Ramsey Poston, NASCAR’s manager of corporate communications, said the decision is not without precedent.
Mike Olsen was moved from first to last after the 2005 Toyota All-Star Showdown when the right-side wheels were found to be too wide and too light.
Poston also said the penalty does not mean NASCAR will be more likely to reverse its traditional policy and begin taking away finishing position for rules violations in the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series.
“The regional and touring series tend to administer penalties differently and this really isn’t an unusual step for any developmental series,” he said.