NASCAR Suspends Two Crew Chiefs

Two Winston Cup crew chiefs were suspended for four races by NASCAR and 13 others received fines Monday for rules violations discovered during pre- and post-race qualifying inspections for the Daytona 500.

Tony Furr, crew chief for Jerry Nadeau’s No. 25 Chevrolet, which had qualified in the front row Saturday before the speed was disallowed because the roof of the car was half an inch too low, was suspended and fined $10,000.

Also suspended for four races was Kevin Cram, crew chief for Jason Leffler’s Dodge, after the fuel in the No. 01 car was found to be contaminated. Leffler’s qualifying time was thrown out Monday morning.

“We discovered that the No. 25 car had an illegal piece in its suspension that was designed to break away once the car was on the track,” said Gary Nelson, NASCAR Winston Cup director.

Furr was fined an additional $2,500 for fuel-cell violations discovered before Saturday’s qualifying. Both suspensions will begin at the next race, Feb. 23, at Rockingham, N.C. The suspensions mean that neither crew chief will be allowed inside the Winston Cup garage or pit area during race weeks. Furr will be on probation all season.

Gary DeHart, crew chief for Terry Labonte’s Chevrolet, was fined $5,000 and put on probation for the season for roof air deflector violations before qualifying. DeHart was fined an additional $1,000 for a fuel-cell violation.

Among the crew chiefs fined but not suspended was Mike Ford of the No. 9 car driven by Bill Elliott, which will start on the pole. Ford was docked $2,500 for a “thin control arm.”

Both Nadeau and Leffler requalified Monday afternoon in the second and final round of time trials.

“All I had to do was just post a speed,” said Nadeau, who ran 178.271 mph on a windy day after a 182.763 on Saturday. “Now we can start prepping our Chevrolet for Thursday’s qualifying race.”

All entries except the front-row Dodges of Elliott and Stacy Compton must compete in one of a pair of 125-mile races to fill spots 3-30 in the 43-car field. Because his qualifying speed is so slow, Nadeau must finish at least 14th to assure himself a berth in Sunday’s race.

“We’ve got a good race car,” Nadeau said. “Really, we just need to look forward to the race. We did it, we’ve got to pay for it. Once we get to the race and we get a good finish, we’ll forget about what happened.”

Leffler laughed when asked if the contaminated fuel had helped him Saturday.

“I don’t think so, not after we qualified 36th,” Leffler said. “The car ran better today with clean fuel in it. I’ve got to race my way into the Daytona 500 now, and that will be fun.”

Brett Bodine, in a Ford Taurus, was the fastest second-day driver and assured himself a berth in the 500 with his 180.941 lap. It moved him from 29th to 21st, which means even if he fails to qualify in his Thursday heat, his speed will get him in the 500.

“It’s gonna make supper taste a lot better the next three nights,” Bodine said, “because we feel like, no matter what happens on Thursday, we’re gonna be in the Daytona 500, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say that.”