I said I wouldn't do that. Your explanation makes sense, but I would love to hear from NASCAR on this. Do you have a link?
The HMS narrative is that they are the class of the field, and Mr. H is The Man. That is, until, they screw up, and now it's the "they are human" and "clerical error" narrative. Why would NASCAR have a L1 for a clerical error?
Was the Bondo and wind tunnel thin unforced as well? I don't mind pushing the limits of the rules, but I detest the "ooops" narrative. These guys tunes cars to minuscule tolerances, but they can't figure out where to put a whole ****** engine?
I hope those poor goofballs at Hendrick figure out how to run their team... I mean they are destroying everybody in Manufacturer Points, and all of their drivers are in the Playoffs, but imagine how good they could be if they weren't so amateur.
I would love to hear from NASCAR on a LOT of things, but that is not their style. About the only time you get the REAL inside story from them is it makes them look good, or they are shamed into providing the information.
More often than not HMS HAS been the class of the field for the last twenty-five years, but they are are coming off a pretty long stretch where they haven't been, despite all the early success, the jury is still out on this year. As for Mr. H being "the man", I'm pretty sure he would chuckle at that description of him, but you will have a hard time finding anybody actually associated with NASCAR that would disagree.
Yes, HMS cheats like every other NASCAR team there ever has been or ever will be, and yes, they make mistakes like every team there ever has been or will be.
NASCAR's rules and penalties are normally based on results, not intent. The wrong engine was in the wrong car, simple as that. WHY it was there is really not their concern.
I know very little about the Bondo thing or even whether it is true. Once again, don't wait for NASCAR to tell you anything. I guess if Claire B. said it, it MUST be true, and I don't have any reason to believe it isn't, then they were obviously tying to push the limits. I'm not making any excuses for that, and I haven't heard HMS or anybody else with a brain make excuses for it.
I really have no thoughts on the wind tunnel issue. THEY reported the violation, so that leaves you with two choices: 1) They did it on purpose, but knew they were going to get caught so they fessed up. 2) They screwed up. Once again, I haven't made an excuse for that, and I haven't heard them make an excuse for that. HMS has a LONG history of fighting penalties tooth and nail when they think they were unfairly issued, and quietly accepting them when they are, so you'll have to draw your own conclusions. Maybe they felt that the penalty was worth whatever information they gained, I don't know.
Remember that there are dozens of these engines floating around the HMS campus at any one time, and there aren't any big signs on them that say which car they belong to. Even the sealed engines get pulled out of the car, sent down the hill to the engine shop, checked over, have valve springs replaced, tested for proper performance then sent back up the hill to the car shops. It wouldn't be that out of the question for someone to mix something up or grab the wrong engine. It's an embarrassing thing to have happen, but so is what happened to Larson at Talladega. How about last year when Hamlins's weight block fell out? Having done that job, it's hard for me to fathom how somebody left the cover off or left it loose that let the weight fall out, but a paid professional race car mechanic, probably 100 times more talented than I ever was did it. I witnessed Jeff Gordon have his Brickyard 400 ruined on lap 4 because the sway bar link fell off because somebody left a bolt out. (Another job I have done). I've seen cars START the race with loose lugnuts, an as inexcusable thing as possibly can happen to a race car, but it seems like once a year or so SOMEBODY does it.
As long as you (or anyone else) can't (or won't) come up with a reason for this to happen on purpose, then what other option IS there than a mistake was made?
