NO MISTAKING MESSAGE Jeff Burton said the harsh penalties NASCAR levied against Hendrick Motorsports earlier this week sent a message to everyone in the Nextel Cup garage: Don’t push the rules with the Car of Tomorrow. “Well, they are severe,” Burton said of the 100-point, $100,000-fine, six-week crew chief suspensions given to two Hendrick teams. “There is no getting around that. NASCAR has made it very clear that they are not going to tolerate anything. It was a very, very harsh penalty - more severe than I would have anticipated. On the other hand, NASCAR has made it clear about their intention with this car. They sent a very clear message to the garage area. It's gotten everybody nervous. Everybody is on pins and needles, but that's what they want.”
Burton said the end result is teams are having to rethink what they can and can’t get away with. “We can't think the same way any more. This has been a game of ‘What is NASCAR going to let you get by with?’ and it's no longer that game,” he said. “There is nothing they want you to do with these bodies. There is no wiggle room. There used to be a process of the presentation of the car. And if they didn't like it - within reason - they'd let you fix it. That isn't the case anymore. If they don't like it, then you're going to get penalized. It's much tougher today than it was. But that was their intention with this body and with this concept. They're just trying to execute it.”
Burton said the end result is teams are having to rethink what they can and can’t get away with. “We can't think the same way any more. This has been a game of ‘What is NASCAR going to let you get by with?’ and it's no longer that game,” he said. “There is nothing they want you to do with these bodies. There is no wiggle room. There used to be a process of the presentation of the car. And if they didn't like it - within reason - they'd let you fix it. That isn't the case anymore. If they don't like it, then you're going to get penalized. It's much tougher today than it was. But that was their intention with this body and with this concept. They're just trying to execute it.”