NASCAR penalizes three teams for Talladega infractions
Autoracing Betting Lines
10/25/2011 -
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR handed down stiff penalties to
three Sprint Cup Series teams for rules violations that were discovered during
last Friday's opening day inspection at Talladega Superspeedway.
According to a news release from NASCAR on Tuesday, the Michael Waltrip Racing
No.00 and No.56 teams and the JTG Daugherty Racing No.47 team were penalized
for "unapproved modification to an approved windshield."
NASCAR confiscated the windshields from the cars of David Reutimann (No.00),
Martin Truex Jr. (No.56) and Bobby Labonte (No.47). All three teams replaced
the windshields on the cars before Friday's first practice session began.
Crew chiefs Rodney Childers (Reutimann), Frank Kerr (Labonte) and Chad
Johnston (Truex) have each been fined $50,000 and suspended for the last
four Sprint Cup races this season -- Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and
Homestead. Car chiefs Steve Channing (Reutimann), Raymond Fox (Labonte) and
Anthony Lunders (Truex) also received the same suspension period.
Reutimann, Labonte and Truex were each penalized 25 driver points. Car Owners
Rob Kauffman (No.00), Tad Geschickter (No.47), and Michael Waltrip (No.56)
received a loss of 25 points as well.
Neither MWR nor JTG Daugherty plan to appeal.
"Michael Waltrip Racing is ultra-sensitive and very serious about working
within the guidelines of NASCAR policy," the team said in statement. "We do
not condone this type of activity and as such we will take appropriate
internal corrective action immediately. We thank NASCAR for providing a fair
and equitable platform for all of its competitors and respect its decisions;
therefore, we will not appeal."
MWR announced that Bobby Kennedy, the team's executive vice president of race
operations, will take over crew chief duties for the No.00. Mechanic Chris
Hall will serve as the car chief.
For the No.56 team, Pat Tryson will step into the crew chief role this weekend
at Martinsville. Allen Mincey, who is also a mechanic for MWR, will serve as
car chief.
JTG Daugherty, which is affiliated with MWR, also revealed its personnel
changes. Team chief race engineer Brian Burns has been named the interim crew
chief for the No.47. Bob Bechstein will move into the car chief role.
"We are very disappointed in this entire situation, and we will not appeal
NASCAR's ruling," JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said in a
statement. "We look forward to racing at Martinsville Speedway this weekend
and getting ready for next season."
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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
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