Jeff Hammond
FOX Sports, Updated 1 hour ago
When NASCAR's grid of Car of Tomorrow templates, also known as "the claw," sat on top of the No. 24 and No. 48 cars during inspection on Friday at Sonoma, they hit the mandated hard points and looked good. But what NASCAR saw in between the hard points of the tempate wasn't to the sanctioning body's liking.
In between the nose template and the template that goes across the center of the fender — about 10-11 inches long and 3-4 inches wide — something wasn't permissible, based on NASCAR's scan during inspection. The teams were told to leave their cars in the garage area on Friday, even though the crews quickly made the minor repairs in that area. They could have practiced on Friday, but NASCAR held them in the garage.
When teams did something wrong in the past, NASCAR would say, "We don't like that, guys. Fix it and bring it back. We'll get you a sticker." That's what the crews for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson should have been allowed to do. They shouldn't have been kept off of the racetrack.
While the templates and system for scanning the cars is pretty good, we've got to be very careful that this area in between the templates isn't restricted. There should be areas on the car where teams can work. Allowing crews to be creative and innovative within the rules is an important part of NASCAR.
The Car of Tomorrow should be great for the sport, allowing teams to re-use cars and ideally save money with fewer cars in the fleet. The COT rules, like the car itself, are a work in progress. I just hope that in this learning process, NASCAR isn't too severe on Hendrick Motorsports and crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte.
I really don't think that they did much, if anything, wrong. It's a learning curve, and NASCAR is penalizing teams that were learning. Now, the crews have to learn not to do some things that they we're used to doing, even though the templates fit, which used to mean a car was legal.
FOX race analyst Jeff Hammond led Darrell Waltrip to two of DW's three Winston Cup championships as his crew chief. They also teamed to win the 1989 Daytona 500.
For autographed copies of Jeff Hammond's book "Real Men Work in the Pits" plus magnets, hats and more, check out www.dwstore.com.
FOX Sports, Updated 1 hour ago
When NASCAR's grid of Car of Tomorrow templates, also known as "the claw," sat on top of the No. 24 and No. 48 cars during inspection on Friday at Sonoma, they hit the mandated hard points and looked good. But what NASCAR saw in between the hard points of the tempate wasn't to the sanctioning body's liking.
In between the nose template and the template that goes across the center of the fender — about 10-11 inches long and 3-4 inches wide — something wasn't permissible, based on NASCAR's scan during inspection. The teams were told to leave their cars in the garage area on Friday, even though the crews quickly made the minor repairs in that area. They could have practiced on Friday, but NASCAR held them in the garage.
When teams did something wrong in the past, NASCAR would say, "We don't like that, guys. Fix it and bring it back. We'll get you a sticker." That's what the crews for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson should have been allowed to do. They shouldn't have been kept off of the racetrack.
While the templates and system for scanning the cars is pretty good, we've got to be very careful that this area in between the templates isn't restricted. There should be areas on the car where teams can work. Allowing crews to be creative and innovative within the rules is an important part of NASCAR.
The Car of Tomorrow should be great for the sport, allowing teams to re-use cars and ideally save money with fewer cars in the fleet. The COT rules, like the car itself, are a work in progress. I just hope that in this learning process, NASCAR isn't too severe on Hendrick Motorsports and crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte.
I really don't think that they did much, if anything, wrong. It's a learning curve, and NASCAR is penalizing teams that were learning. Now, the crews have to learn not to do some things that they we're used to doing, even though the templates fit, which used to mean a car was legal.
FOX race analyst Jeff Hammond led Darrell Waltrip to two of DW's three Winston Cup championships as his crew chief. They also teamed to win the 1989 Daytona 500.
For autographed copies of Jeff Hammond's book "Real Men Work in the Pits" plus magnets, hats and more, check out www.dwstore.com.
