2012 Pure Michigan 400 Weekend Discussion

[RP Motorsports]

^Give Kyle his dues. He's had a fairly rough season, and he's taken it all in stride. I honestly believe he's learning big time from his almost career-costing actions last year.

I was thinking about this the other night, and I do honestly think he's done a better job of not causing problems and running his mouth, compared to previous years. I dont know if anyone can deny that. He has pretty much flown under the radar this year.

That being said, I'm personally still a LONG way from saying he's a new man or a changed man. There were a lot of people proclaiming him a changed man BEFORE the Texas incident happened. Obviously things were a little more significant this time around, and it may very well have scared him some. But with a rap sheet as long as his, and a short fuse to go with it, I'm just not sold that he wont eventually get a little complacent and revert back to previous behavior at some point. Its that saying about a zebra doesnt change its stripes, or whatever it is.

Thats my .02.

 

[K.Chuck]

He has had an unusual season between Cup and his own teams, I think he took on more than he was ready for. Hes certainly acting like more of a grown up, I honestly don't know if I like it.

 

[wslates]

NASCAR could come down hard on the No. 27 Richard Childress Racing team after discovering irregularities with the frame rails on the car driven by Paul Menard last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, sources have told FOXSports.com.

Menard’s car was taken to the Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. after finishing ninth in the Pure Michigan 400 Sunday. However, Menard was not the top finishing Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne (third), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fourth) and Ryan Newman (eighth) all finished ahead of the Richard Childress Racing team.

Menard is currently 15th in the points standings. His last win came in the 2011 Brickyard 400.

-Fox Sports.com

 

[wslates]

Significant penalties to Menard's team:

Aug 22, 2012 - NASCAR came down hard on Paul Menard's No. 27 team on Wednesday afternoon, slamming Richard Childress Racing with a harsh penalty for what it said was an intentionally modified part.

In addition to a 25-point penalty (equivalent of 100 points in the old points system), NASCAR suspended crew chief Slugger Labbe, car chief Craig Smokstad and crew member Grant Hutchens for six races apiece. It also issued Labbe a $100,000 fine.

Menard finished ninth in Sunday's Michigan race, but was selected as the "random" (which is not always actually random) by NASCAR to undergo further inspection. Along with Greg Biffle's winning car, Menard's No. 27 was taken back to NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

It was there where inspectors found that Menard's frame rails had been intentionally modified "for the purpose of deceiving NASCAR's inspection gauges."

Menard was 15th in points, but was still within reach of a wild card if he won just one of the next three races and gained 15 points on current leader Ryan Newman at the same time. Now, though, he'll need to win two of the next three races to have a shot, which will be virtually impossible – especially with the team shakeup.

This isn't the first suspension for Labbe. In 2006, while crew chief for Dale Jarrett at Robert Yates Racing, he was suspended for four weeks due to an illegally mounted sway bar. That penalty earned him a $25,000 fine.

The biggest penalty in NASCAR history was issued in 2009, when Carl Long was suspended 12 races and his team fined $200,000 for an oversized engine. He was also docked 200 points, which is roughly 50 points under today's point system.