No doubt the odds were against them the start, but nonetheless Richard Childress made his appeal before the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel Wednesday.
The outcome was almost predictable.
But was it predictable because the evil suits at NASCAR were hell bent on making their penalties stick, or was it because they were right?
It all started after the Richmond race when NASCAR warned the Richard Childress Racing team that the No. 33 Chevy driven by Clint Bowyer was nearly too high to pass post race inspection.
The following week, Bowyer won the race at New Hampshire but NASCAR took the car back to their Research and Development Center in Concord North Carolina. Later in the week they announced that the car was too high and hit the team hard. They issued a fine of $150,000, suspended the crew chief for six races and took 150 points away from Bowyer and Childress. The result left Bowyer in last place in the championship Chase and Childress fighting mad saying within a few hours after the penalties were issued that he would appeal.
Wednesday Childress had his day in court. Childress said he felt strongly that post race contact with a wrecker after the race caused the car to be too high. He even resorted to bringing his own crash reconstruction expert, Doctor Charles Manning.
Dr. Manning made a presentation that he said showed the possibility that the wrecker could have caused the damage.
The Board however failed to be swayed and said so in a statement they issued spelling out their denial of the appeal.
“Claims that the wrecker caused the infraction were negated by the telemetry from the car which did not show a sharp impact spike; by the fact that the rear template still fit snugly across the entire rear of the car; by a visual inspection of the rear of the car which showed nothing of note in the way of damage; and a visual review of the videotape of post race assistance tendered by the wrecker which appeared as relatively gentle pushing.
Of significance to the Panel were some additional facts which came to light during the hearing. Particularly of note were the facts that both rear hard points, left and right, were high, and that the rear of the body was offset on the frame.”
Of significance to the Panel were some additional facts which came to light during the hearing. Particularly of note were the facts that both rear hard points, left and right, were high, and that the rear of the body was offset on the frame.”
An obviously disappointed Childress said afterwards he would make one final appeal to NASCAR's Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook, a former long-time General Motors executive.
"After so many hours, I guess you could call it whatever you want to call it; the ruling stood," Childress said. "I gave them the [$150,000] check and our appeal notice. We're going to appeal it to the commissioner. We're very disappointed. We had proof."
Dr. Manning too was less than thrilled with the decision.
"I gave them reports, and they paid no attention, which says something about what was going on in there," Manning said before begin whisked away.
"I gave them reports, and they paid no attention, which says something about what was going on in there," Manning said before begin whisked away.
NASCAR Sprint Cup series director John Darby said he felt the appeal hearing was fair and that he had to answer many questions from the members during the proceedings.
"They're very informed people," Darby said adding that the hearing wasn’t exactly a relaxed affair. "They're very tense. You get nervous when you go to one of these deals. It's not just a mocked-up party. It's serious. You have to be very exact, you have to be very precise, you have to be very direct, you have to be very honest."
For those who weren’t present in the hearing, the ability to judge what went on in the hearing isn’t easy. And given the fact that there is one more appeal to be heard, it isn’t over.
But the chances for success are very slim.
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