Is this NASCAR Official
position - What a cop-out!
August 8, 1999
Chat Transcript
Popular television analyst and NASCAR great Benny Parsons chatted with fans after the Brickyard 400. The former series champion answered questions about the race and more.
Benny Parsons at 4:49pm ET
Hello all there all you race fans, I hope you enjoyed the race. You saw a very dominating
effort from Dale Jarrett and his team. Any questions?
Rick Wilson at 4:49pm ET
Why did they not bring Jeff Burton in and make check his lug nuts? It was clear on TV that
several were loosened.
Benny Parsons at 4:50pm ET
I think it was clear on TV, but not to the official. I'm sitting with Ray Dunlap, who was
covering that pit, and he says the official wasn't in that pit and didn't see that.
Dave Snyder, Portland, OR at 4:50pm ET
I was wondering if you could tell me why NASCAR doesn't penalize a team for losing control
of a tire or leaving a tire in the pit lane? This very often poses no problem to the team
making the mistake but can cause serious damage to other cars. Like today when Jeff
Burton's team left a tire to be ran over by the No. 3 car.
Benny Parsons at 4:50pm ET
Again, I can't comment on that. We know Earnhardt hit the tire, but I don't know which
tire he hit. I was told it was Burton's, but I didn't see it.
Well, if that is NASCAR's official position on the matter it's really sick. More so than a rules violation it is a safety matter. NASCAR prides itself on safety but to let Burton race with missing lug nuts is a contradiction to their safety policy as well as against the rules.
Just imagine what would have happened if Burton's tire came off shortly after the restart of the race. There were 39 cars on the track at the time and Burton was in 5th. We could have seen a 30 car pile up and possibly injured drivers and fans.
NASCAR may ignore this issue with "he says the official wasn't in that pit and didn't see that" but that's a cop out. It's on tape, they can plainly see it, so do something about it.
One other thing...What about Jeff Burton's concern, or lack thereof, about his crew members who had planned on and were performing a four tire pit stop when Burton changes his mind, over-riding his crew chief, and leaves the pits after only the two right side tires were changed and the crew was in the process of changing left side tires. He could have seriously injured one or several of his crew. Thank God he didn't.
And about the loose tire running across pit road. Watch the same lugnut replay and you'll see the bouncing tire.
That's my 3 cents worth!
Gary
blk3gm@mindspring.com
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