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By KEVIN KELLY
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2001
DAYTONA BEACH -- It was 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and Gary DeHart already was hotter than the cup of coffee he clutched in his right hand.
"We got caught here," said Terry Labonte's crew chief, "and I don't feel like we did anything wrong."
Several crew chiefs reacted with similar claims, while one team owner suggested tampering, after NASCAR levied $40,750 worth of fines against 18 teams the day before.
"You can't afford to cheat this day," said Barry Dodson, the crew chief for the No. 27 Pontiac, who was docked $250 for an illegal fuel cell. "It's a negative for your sponsors. It's a negative for your car brand. It's a negative for your race team."
DeHart was one of three crew chiefs who received the harshest penalties.
He was fined $6,000 for an improper air deflector and fuel cell and placed on probation. "The severity of the crime doesn't match the punishment," DeHart said.
"That's something I've got to live with all year long, being on probation, because the least little slip up of anything, I could be canned. Heck, I'm a family man. I've got children to keep up. I've got too many kids in college, too many bills to pay."
Then there was Felix Sabates, part owner of the No. 01 Dodge team.
NASCAR fined the team's crew chief, Kevin Cram, $10,000 for a questionable fuel additive found after qualifying Saturday. He was suspended four races and placed on probation the rest of the year.
Sabates claimed another team put something in the team's fuel tank.
"If we were doing that ourselves, we would have drained the fuel cells after qualifying so there wouldn't be any residue," he said. "When they came back the next morning, they found twice as much fuel in the fuel tank as the day before."
Tony Furr, crew chief for Jerry Nadeau, accepted blame. He was fined $12,750 after his car failed to meet height specifications. NASCAR also confiscated an improper fuel cell and adjustable braces.
"I made a mistake and now I'm paying for it," said Furr, suspended four races and placed on probation.
WIND TUNNEL: NASCAR officials could release results from Monday's wind tunnel test in Atlanta as early as today.
Four of the top five cars from the Budweiser Shootout on Sunday -- Tony Stewart's Pontiac, Dale Earnhardt's Chevy, Bill Elliott's Dodge and Rusty Wallace's Ford -- were impounded and taken for testing.
Several Ford teams think their cars are at an aerodynamic disadvantage.
"We're hoping for a little bit of a concession, but I don't expect any knee-jerk reactions at all out of NASCAR," Wallace said. "I've fought rules my whole life and if you don't say anything, you'll get your doors blown off. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, man."
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't have proof, but my Cuban belly button is telling me that something is there that ain't kosher." -- Sabates on his suspicions somebody tampered with Jason Leffler's car.
-- KEVIN KELLY
Schedule
Upcoming events at Daytona International Speedway:
TODAY: Busch Grand National qualifying; second-round Craftsman Trucks qualifying; Winston Cup, IROC practice.
THURSDAY: Winston Cup Gatorade 125-mile qualifying races, noon; BGN practice/second-round qualifying; IROC practice.
FRIDAY: Craftsman Trucks Daytona 250, 11 a.m.; IROC race, 1:30; Winston Cup, BGN practice.
SATURDAY: Busch Grand National NAPA 300, 1 p.m.; Winston Cup practice.
SUNDAY: Winston Cup Daytona 500, 1 p.m..
TICKET INFORMATION: Call (904) 253-7223 or check http://www.daytona
Partly cloudy with a high of 77 in Daytona Beach
Directions
Follow Interstate 4 east to the I-95 North exit on the left toward Jacksonville. Merge onto the I-95 North exit and follow to the U.S. Highway 92 exit (No. 87) toward DeLand/Daytona Beach. Merge onto U.S. 92 East until you see the speedway.