Richard Childress and Mike Helton. Credit: Autostock

Helton: Penalties may escalate for cheaters
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
March 20, 2005
12:44 PM EST (17:44 GMT)




HAMPTON, Ga. -- NASCAR President Mike Helton warned teams on Sunday that continued infractions could lead to escalating penalties.

The warning comes on the heels of one of the more penalty-laden weeks in NASCAR history, when three crew chiefs were suspended for infractions from the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas.

Winning crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for two weeks for a height violation, and runner-up crew chief Alan Gustafson met the same fate after his car was found to have to have a quarterpanel that was too high.


Mike Helton

Both teams were also penalized 25 points, which cost Knaus' driver, Jimmie Johnson, the points lead. Knaus and Gustafson are appealing their suspensions.

Crew chief Todd Berrier was suspended four weeks and penalized 25 points for an illegal fuel violation during qualifying at Las Vegas. He is appealing the rule but elected not to make the trip for this weekend's event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Helton said that while the penalties were severe, he would not hesitate to intensify punishment if the illegal cars kept showing up in post-race inspection.

"Consider this the warning," Helton said during the driver's meeting for Sunday's Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta. "Don't hang your hat on traditional reactions. We will do whatever we have do to balance the risk against the reward."

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In 2002, NASCAR starting moving away from the traditional way of punishing teams -- fining them -- to the current method of docking championship points. NASCAR docked 25 points each from six teams that season.

But Helton hinted that NASCAR might hand down more far-reaching sentences for rules violations.

"You should not depend on NASCAR's traditional reactions to incidents that occur after a race where you don't fit," Helton said.

"Our responsibility is to maker more the playing field is level and everything is on the table at NASCAR'S options to react."

Helton made it clear that his organization didn't want to go through another suspension-dominated week, and implored teams to stay within the rules.

"It makes it a lot easier when everything is inside the box," Helton said.