This season has seen NASCAR dish out penalties almost every now and then. Even top teams like Hendrick Motorsports were not able to evade the punishments this year. Last month, another team was hit with a massive slew of penalties after having found modifications on the greenhouse of the car. The team in question was Legacy Motor Club.
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The Jimmie Johnson-owned racing team has been going through a rough patch with a slow car. The penalty only hampered their push to come out of the slump further. Recently, a tweet from a renowned NASCAR journalist highlighted the exact reason for the penalty.
After realizing the reason for the punishment, several NASCAR fans called out the organization for clamping down on them too hard, for what seemed like a minor mistake, rather than outright cheating.
Jimmie Johnson’s team suffered a major penalty recently
The team had been docked 60 driver and owner points for the #43 car of Erik Jones. Aside from the points dock, they also received a $75,000 fine for crew chief Dave Elenz along with a suspension for the next two races.
The 43 car greenhouse violation (and similar to Hendrick cars). This is top of back windshield. Teams were allowed to smooth out area near threads so they mount correctly. Rule requires minimum .130” from hole to threaded area … 43 car was 0.93 left and 0.115 right. Safety… pic.twitter.com/QYILCZjhiV
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 8, 2023
Discussing the exact reason for the penalty, eminent journalist Bob Pockrass recently mentioned, “The 43 car greenhouse violation (and similar to Hendrick cars). This is top of back windshield. Teams were allowed to smooth out area near threads so they mount correctly. Rule requires minimum .130” from hole to threaded area … 43 car was 0.93 left and 0.115 right. Safety issue b/c could impact integrity of mount.“
Fans slam NASCAR for a pointless penalty against Legacy Motor Club
Following the fine being issued, several fans called out NASCAR and criticized them for handing them a penalty for a relatively minute mistake. Some of them even went on to label NASCAR being “borderline childish” with this act.
Makes zero difference especially when the car is already slow
— gascanman (@gascanman1) July 8, 2023
So there’s really no cheating/performance advantage but just a poorly done approved repair that could impact safety?
So was an L3 really necessary?
— Jake Snead (@jakesnead1992) July 8, 2023
There is a point when human error takes over, and no matter how much NASCAR scans or go through these cars, they will find something that they can deem out of tolerance. Is 0.025” that much detrimental to give such a penalty? I do not think so. NASCAR has another problem on…
— Chris Phineas (@ChrisPhineas) July 8, 2023
This is borderline childish at this point
— Melee (@AJCoombs) July 8, 2023
Fans argued that there must have been a human error on Legacy’s part and criticized NASCAR for punishing them for such a minute infraction. Furthermore, they also noted that even with those modifications, it did not change the performance of the car. However, the reason why NASCAR clamped down on them could have been because of a safety concern.
But in any case, this could have perhaps been handled without such a heavy penalty.
