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closeHarvick, Junior offer reactions to Gibbs scandal, the penalties
HANK KURZ Jr.
The Associated Press
Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Kevin Harvick joked about the penalties handed down to Joe Gibbs Racing this week for cheating, then brushed the scandal talk aside as overblown.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't as quick to forgive and forget.
NASCAR suspended seven JGR crew members indefinitely this week for attempting to manipulate a horsepower test after a Nationwide Series race in one of the harshest rulings ever handed down by the governing body. The suspensions included both JGR crew chiefs in the series, and drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano were each docked 150 driver points.
The teams also were penalized 150 owner points each and placed on probation for the rest of the year after inspectors found magnets on the gas pedals of both cars after the race. NASCAR said it was an attempt to mask the true horsepower of the cars.
"I think there is a new promotion that all Toyotas are giving away free magnets with any purchase of a new car," Harvick said Friday when asked about his reaction to the cheating revelation. Harvick is a former Nationwide Series champion and owns a team in the series.
He then turned serious.
"J.D. and Joe Gibbs don't run their company like that. It is obviously not a decision that was made from the top or the people that represent their company. It was a mistake made by somebody that put their own mind to it," he said, calling the penalties "pretty harsh."
Harvick's thoughts seemed to echo those of others who have said Gibbs' reputation is viewed as a fair and respected competitor, but Earnhardt Jr. didn't necessarily agree.
"I don't know that they were tough enough," he said of the sanctions. "That was pretty wild. ... For all the races they won, I think they should have been a lot tougher on them. It was just obvious, blatant cheating and a unique circumstance, too, on the chassis dyno."
Asked if Gibbs' spotless reputation should be taken into account, Earnhardt Jr. said no.
"Did that 20 car not get confiscated?" he asked, referring to NASCAR's impounding of Tony Stewart's car before a 2003 race at Texas because it didn't meet inspection specifications.
"Y'all need to do your homework," Earnhardt Jr. said, adding that he doesn't think any less of Gibbs for what happened because all the teams search for advantages they can make work.
"There's a little part of you that is ticked because you're competing against these guys and they're trying to bend the rules," he said. "You're also envious and mad that you didn't think of it yourself, you know what I mean?"