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TonyB
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From That's Racin'
NASCAR is expected to levy a fine as early as Tuesday, upwards of $15,000 to Nextel Cup driver Jimmie Johnson for placing a sign atop his No. 48 Chevrolet and obscuring the view of a sponsor's product during Sunday's Victory Lane ceremonies at Pocono Raceway, ThatsRacin.com has learned.
Following his win in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 in Long Pond, Pa., Johnson exited his car and placed a Lowe's sign - Lowe's is the primary sponsor of Johnson's team - atop his car and in front of a large blue Powerade bottle.
Powerade is an official sponsor of NASCAR.
During the course of Victory Lane ceremonies, the Lowe's sign actually fell off the car, but was inexplicably picked up and replaced in its original position obscuring the Powerade bottle by NASCAR official Dave Finley, witnesses said.
Hendrick Motorsports officials were notified Monday of a likely fine, sources said. Officials with Hendrick and NASCAR were unavailable for comment late Monday.
Two weeks ago during a pre-race drivers meeting at New Hampshire, NASCAR president Mike Helton had told drivers "do not take it upon yourselves to remove products" placed on cars as they come in for victory celebrations.
Johnson did not remove or move the Powerade bottle Sunday, witnesses said.
Many of the recent issues have mostly been with a the large, blue Powerade bottle placed atop winning cars that some drivers have pushed or even knocked off their cars.
The drivers who do so have affiliations with Gatorade or with Pepsi, which owns Gatorade. Powerade is a Coca-Cola product.
"You can maneuver away from it or work around it," Helton said at New Hampshire. "If that doesn't begin happening again, we will be forced to deal with it."
The fine for Johnson, the series points leader, would be the first for such issues this season. Johnson was asked about the Victory Lane incident Sunday night during his post-race winner's interview.
Asked if he was told to touch or not touch any bottles in Victory Lane, Johnson replied, "No, I wasn't. I was a little more aware of camera angles to try to honor my sponsors and take care of them. I even took the liberty of putting a sign up in front of brand 'X'.
"It's weird that the driver - in Victory Lane - has to worry about defending and honoring your sponsor because of relationships that exist outside of your control.
"I hope we get this rectified and when you pull into Gatorade Victory Lane you're drinking Gatorade and that's all there is to it."
NASCAR is expected to levy a fine as early as Tuesday, upwards of $15,000 to Nextel Cup driver Jimmie Johnson for placing a sign atop his No. 48 Chevrolet and obscuring the view of a sponsor's product during Sunday's Victory Lane ceremonies at Pocono Raceway, ThatsRacin.com has learned.
Following his win in Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 in Long Pond, Pa., Johnson exited his car and placed a Lowe's sign - Lowe's is the primary sponsor of Johnson's team - atop his car and in front of a large blue Powerade bottle.
Powerade is an official sponsor of NASCAR.
During the course of Victory Lane ceremonies, the Lowe's sign actually fell off the car, but was inexplicably picked up and replaced in its original position obscuring the Powerade bottle by NASCAR official Dave Finley, witnesses said.
Hendrick Motorsports officials were notified Monday of a likely fine, sources said. Officials with Hendrick and NASCAR were unavailable for comment late Monday.
Two weeks ago during a pre-race drivers meeting at New Hampshire, NASCAR president Mike Helton had told drivers "do not take it upon yourselves to remove products" placed on cars as they come in for victory celebrations.
Johnson did not remove or move the Powerade bottle Sunday, witnesses said.
Many of the recent issues have mostly been with a the large, blue Powerade bottle placed atop winning cars that some drivers have pushed or even knocked off their cars.
The drivers who do so have affiliations with Gatorade or with Pepsi, which owns Gatorade. Powerade is a Coca-Cola product.
"You can maneuver away from it or work around it," Helton said at New Hampshire. "If that doesn't begin happening again, we will be forced to deal with it."
The fine for Johnson, the series points leader, would be the first for such issues this season. Johnson was asked about the Victory Lane incident Sunday night during his post-race winner's interview.
Asked if he was told to touch or not touch any bottles in Victory Lane, Johnson replied, "No, I wasn't. I was a little more aware of camera angles to try to honor my sponsors and take care of them. I even took the liberty of putting a sign up in front of brand 'X'.
"It's weird that the driver - in Victory Lane - has to worry about defending and honoring your sponsor because of relationships that exist outside of your control.
"I hope we get this rectified and when you pull into Gatorade Victory Lane you're drinking Gatorade and that's all there is to it."
They said the drivers could move away from the bottles so you can't see them on tv, but this also means moving away from the car that contains the rest of the high paying sponsors on them. Nascar should just take them off the car and get one of those goofy lookin people to wave it around behind the driver during his tv interview, then get rid of it. Tada. Enemy sponsor happy with tv time, driver happy cause its not on his car and it doesn't stay near him long. Too simple for Nascar though. I bet we'll be seeing another fence on top of the car soon, but this one will be electric and will zap the driver if he tries to reach through and knock it off. :lol:
