NASCAR Penalizes Ryan Newman 75 Points - East Idaho News
News

NASCAR Penalizes Ryan Newman 75 Points

  Published at

Getty Ryan Newman?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1427863611409Todd Warshaw/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — After finding the team guilty of doctoring the No. 31 car’s tires for the race on March 22 at Auto Club Speedway, NASCAR penalized Ryan Newman 75 points, suspended crew chief Luke Lambert for six races, and fined Lambert $125,000.

Newman’s engineer Philip Surgen and tire technician James Bender were also suspended for six races.

NASCAR announced the penalty on Tuesday, saying that the team violated the rule that declares it’s illegal to use, “any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield.”

“NASCAR takes very seriously its responsibility to govern and regulate the rules of the sport in order to ensure competitive balance,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said in a statement. “We’ve been very clear that any modifications to race vehicle tires is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated.”

Bleeding air from tires is a subject that NASCAR has been focusing on all season. When air is allowed to bleed, it increases grip. That’s an advantage because grip usually decreases during a race as tires begin to wear down and air pressure builds.

After the March 22 race, NASCAR also examined the tires run by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Paul Menard, but found no violations.

Richard Childress Racing, which is the team for which Newman drives, has not decided if it will appeal the penalty. If there is no appeal, the suspensions are scheduled to begin this weekend at the race in Texas.

The hefty points penalty means that Newman falls from sixth to 26th in the standings.


Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION