Animus

I understand that it was a stupid mistake by JM and his pit crew. I'm asking how many other drivers are guilty of this and don't get in trouble for it. Would a nascar darling get in trouble for this speed infraction? JM probably knows what the situation is like with other drivers. If he does know that others are close to the cushioned limit and have not gotten penalized, then he has a right to be pissed. I would. I don't care what the written rules say. They either apply to all or don't apply in my book.

FWIW, If you tell me the limit is 55mph and we have a 5mph cushion. I'm taking it as the limit is 60mph. So I'm doing at least 58mph in the pits. not 55mph.

Found this:

The Colombian was furious over the issue while speaking to his team on the radio afterward, as he was left in disbelief when handed the penalty. He stated that the lights on his dash showed he was within his referenced rpm limits.

“It kind of sucks. But it is what it is,” said Montoya. “Everybody on the team did an amazing job. I thought I was on the speed. We got lights. I was on the lights every time. I was where I was on the previous [stop] and they say I was speeding.

JimB

Having said all that, you've got to love the retro Target lightning bolt livery. My GF and her partner designed it for the Indycar way back when. She's a real gear head so it was a pretty cool thing for her to do. We had planned to recreate it for my cup car but she didn't think it would work on a tin top which turns out to be true.

The Indycar version sure looked great though.
Jim

Brian P

It's probably a calibration error since the sizes of the tires (when used for many laps) don't match the tires when new and when they calibrated the speedo.

ltc

Yes, probably the same error that the Formula 1 teams battle with

rlm328

This is not the first time Montoya was penalized by nascar for exceeding the pit speed limit. Last time they discovered that it was the nascar equipment that was miscalibrated and later sent Montoya an oops my bad. So there is a history of nascar intervening in a race to get the result that they want. Montoya may well be the victim of the usual nascar efficiency.

nascar is beginning to look a lot like pro wrestling and prize fighting in the 50's.

Patrick E

I thought exactly the same thing.

BrianKeithSmith

I knew someone was gonna bring up the wrestling comparison against NASCAR.

I'll tell you where the wrestling circus is - F1... C'mon - banning an ENTIRE team for a race because a wheel was left loose... I certainly know the potential ramifications of such a mistake, but at the same time - it's racing people...

ltc

It's been looking like that for a while now...

AlpharettaRK

There's been 74 speeding penalites issued this year (6 at Indy) and Jr is among them. Tony, JJ, Rowdy, everybody has got at least 1. I'm pretty sure Jimmie was leading a race when he got one under yellow, which means starting at the back. It's only the rules and they apply to everybody.

Flying Finn

It wasn't really so much because the wheel was left loose by an accident but because:

-They knew it was loose, yet they released him from his pit box.
-They let him out of the pit lane knowing the wheel was loose.
-They didn't inform their driver that the wheel was loose (even though Alonso was radioing them thinking his tire was damaged).

I don't want Renault to stay out of next race (and don't think they will) but this penalty, in the light of what happened to Massa (loose part hit him in the head seriously injuring him) and Surtees (he died from a loose wheel) doesn't seem so drastic and definitely not WWF.

BrianKeithSmith

I just don't understand (translation : "go along with") banning an entire team for that.

Is that particular penalty outlined in the rule book? Alot of people criticize NASCAR for not stating the penalties for normally occuring infractions in their rule book, so I'll step out and do the same here. How can you just come out and say "banned for 1 race" after an event like that.

My point is, either of the 2 sanctioning bodies are just as political as the other, when compared side by side...

Like I said, I totally understand the potential ramifications. Fans could have been injured, corner workers, other drivers, etc. I'm certainly NOT making light of that fact. (and I'm not trying to hijack a thread so I guess I'd better end it)...

Back to Montoya - I'd say he probably didn't get any preferred treatment...

ltc

NA$CAR rule book: where does one get a copy of that?

Flying Finn

Brian,

I don't agree with the banning either but just don't see how that penalty is WWF?

F1 doesn't have full course yellows every time someone spins and then continues, or piece falls off and ends up in a grass or there is a crash in one corner, not affecting rest of the course etc. etc., not prolonged full course (or as in F1, safety car) periods that last numerous laps AFTER the track is completely cleared, and certainly no "competition yellows", I think those are the best/worst examples of NASCAR's "WWFism" which mane people, me included, don't like.

Home Depot & Lowes.
Right next to "How to build a real redneck shed" book.

Patrick E

No "competition yellows" but I remember a certain US Grand Prix that ran only six cars due to tire issues... As a ticket holder, I'm still a little pissed over that.

hacker-pschorr

I understand the safety reason, it's still funny to see a race car (during a race) getting "pulled over" for speeding