Bob Pockrass
FOX NASCAR Insider
Hendrick Motorsports opted to not attraction the Alex Bowman disqualification from the Charlotte highway course, an admission that there didn’t seem like such an extenuating circumstance that they may persuade an attraction listening to officer that it didn’t violate the intent of the rule.
HMS thought Sunday it had all 4 of its automobiles advance to the Spherical of 8 till Bowman’s automobile failed post-race weight necessities. As a substitute of incomes 29 factors, the disqualified Bowman earned one level for the occasion, placing him beneath the playoff cutline and Joey Logano into the playoffs.
All automobiles undergo pre-race tech and should weigh 3,400-3,500 kilos relying on the burden of the driving force (drivers are weighed periodically all year long). The highest-5 automobiles, after which within the playoffs, the playoff automobiles, are weighed post-race. There’s a tolerance of 0.5 p.c, about 17 kilos, within the post-race inspection to permit for any pure lack of weight from the competitors as components and items break and fluid ranges can fluctuate.
“Hendrick Motorsports won’t attraction the disqualification of the No. 48 automobile following Sunday’s race on the Charlotte Roval,” the crew stated in an announcement. “NASCAR permits a transparent margin to account for the distinction in pre- and post-race weight.
“After an intensive overview by our crew and the sanctioning physique, we merely didn’t give ourselves sufficient margin to satisfy the post-race requirement. Though unintentional, the infraction was avoidable. We’re extraordinarily dissatisfied to lose a playoff spot underneath these circumstances and apologize to our followers and companions.”
Whether or not Hendrick did one thing uncouth or simply is a sufferer of circumstance will be debated. The game has a historical past of ingenious methods to take weight out of the automobile (and possibly even put it again close to the tip of the race). Wherever there’s a tolerance, groups probably will do issues to get nearer to the tolerance stage. On pit highway, drivers push their pace to the 5 mph tolerance above the pace restrict.
There probably are methods to slyly take away weight or change a bit someday between pre-race tech and the tip of the race. Groups have put weight in a helmet bag. Groups have put completely different air in tires for tech with the intention to make the automobile heavier. It’s a part of the sport. It’s not that nobody tries to get the automobile lighter after they undergo tech, it’s simply how far they need to get to the road the place if one thing unintended occurs, they fail the burden requirement.
NASCAR hasn’t stated how a lot off the Bowman automobile was in tech, so there’s no option to definitively understand how shut they had been. However the crew was allowed to high off gas and purge and substitute its water system. That didn’t assist the automobile make weight, and sure was key to the choice to not attraction because it appeared NASCAR gave Bowman’s crew each alternative to make weight.
It’s unlucky for Bowman and exhausting to say how a lot it helped him, whether or not the burden of the automobile was definitely worth the 9 factors he wanted to advance to the following spherical. However it’s apparent Hendrick of us didn’t see a method the place they may— pardon the pun — tip the scales of their favor. In order that they have paid the value.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent many years protecting motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Observe him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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