Motorsports

Robby Gordon team fined $50,000

By wire services
Published February 24, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH - Robby Gordon Motorsports was fined $50,000 Wednesday and docked 25 championship points, the most severe penalty for violations at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR fined crew chief Bob Temple and deducted points from car owner Jim Smith for an unapproved intake manifold on his Chevrolet on Feb. 11 during the initial Nextel Cup inspection for the season-opening Daytona 500.

Gordon, driver and part-owner of the new team, failed to make the starting lineup for the 500 and has no points. Smith earned 31 based on qualifying results.

In all, NASCAR penalized 10 Cup teams.

The Wood Brothers Racing team was assessed with four because of an unapproved spoiler adjustment found on the Ford driven by Ricky Rudd. He was penalized 25 points, Glen Wood lost owner points, crew chief Michael McSwain was fined $25,00 and crew member Marc Smith was suspended from NASCAR competition until March 31.

Pete Rondeau, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new crew chief, was fined $10,000 for a transmission violation.

Dave Charpentier, crew chief for John Andretti, was fined $10,000 for an improperly attached weight.

Also, fined $1,000 each for various violations were the following crew chiefs:

Harold Holly (crew chief for Bobby Hamilton Jr.), Jimmy Elledge (Casey Mears), Jim Penland (Mike Skinner), Robert Leslie (Kerry Earnhardt), Beau Tiffany (Larry Gunselman), and Stanton Hover Jr. (Andy Belmont).

The sanctioning body also fined three crew chiefs from the Busch series and four from the Craftsman Truck circuit for violations at Daytona.

SAFETY RULES: Daytona track workers will have written guidelines, training and a chain of command under a settlement with the federal government stemming from a death on the track last year.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration withdrew its most serious citation after the agreement was signed Tuesday. It was for failure to have a written protocol for workers stepping onto the track when Roy Weaver was killed.

In return, the speedway agreed to put in place a written safety and training policy by the summer for cleanup personnel who are "exposed to the hazard of being struck by moving competition vehicles while performing their duties on or near the competition area during a motorsports competition event."

The track will also train its safety teams at least once a year and strengthen radio communication between the control tower and accident workers.

Weaver was killed instantly on Feb. 8, 2004, when struck by a race car traveling more than 100 mph during the IPOWER Dash Series 150. He was on the track during a caution period to retrieve debris. Speedway spokesman David Talley said the track has been training its safety crews "forever," but never committed the guidelines to paper.

[Last modified February 24, 2005, 00:55:11]