How Dumb Does Jack Roush Think We Are?

March 9, 2008

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

Is it me, or is everyone else wondering just how stupid the folks at Roush-Fenway Racing must think we fans are?

The statements that have come out of that group this week about Carl Edwards' errant oil cover last weekend at Las Vegas have made me just shake my head in amazement.

Roush-Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith seems to think having a law degree and using fancy words like “vibration harmonics” will make the folks listening to him buy the stuff he is saying.

"We are not yet sure if we will be participating in a 16th-century exercise in the judicial system," Smith said. "It's a tough business for any race team to have to pledge $100,000, 100 points and a six-race crew chief suspension as an indemnity payment to NASCAR against a promise forced from us by NASCAR that no bolt will ever fail its purpose under race conditions."

16th century exercise in the judicial system? Did he just go see “The Other Boleyn Girl” at the theater? Back then, they burned people at the stake for being witches, and cut off their heads for claiming the King was impotent. They didn’t penalize a team for an infraction that everyone who has a computer and access to the internet has been able to see with their own eyes this week.

Geoff didn’t even know how many bolts were used to hold the lid in place to begin with.

Let’s try another tactic.

"So, you get 100 points for putting rocket fuel in your car, and then you get 100 points for a bolt coming too loose?" Smith asked this week, noting Michael Waltrip’s penalty at Daytona in 2007 for an unknown substance in his engine. "There seems to be a little inconsistency here, and we're being penalized for something we aren't even sure gave an added performance to the car."

First off, the penalty last year for Waltrip was on the old car, not the new one. So 100 points, $100k was a lot of money for messing with the car. NASCAR was pretty upfront saying that if you messed with the new car, it would START at 100 points and $100k. So yeah, you get the same penalty for an open fuel lid as for stuff in your engine.

As for the added performance for the open lid, they must be thinking that if the argument worked for Robby Gordon, who had his points returned but his fine increased this week for a nose that HE wasn’t sure gave added performance to his Daytona car, it will work for them.

Even the drivers are laughing at them for that statement.

“I think that it insults my intelligence as a race car driver when you try and tell me that you accidentally left the oil tank lid off,” said Elliott Sadler, driver of the Gillett-Evernham Motorsports 19 car. “If you go to any owner, any engineer, any driver any crew chief and ask them is that an advantage, ‘heck yeah it’s an advantage’. I’ve been doing that half of my career. When driving the 21 and 38 car, we pulled the shifter boot off and the oil tank lid off until NASCAR started to tech it. It’s 100 lbs of down force.”

Jeff Burton, driver of Richard Childress Racing's 31 car added “One thing that I have learned about these race cars is typically things don’t fall off of cars that hurt the cars,” Crew members don’t typically leave a-frames loose, they typically don’t leave brakes loose, gauges don’t fall out of them. We have highly trained mechanics that have checklists but mistakes do happen. Mistakes do happen. I certainly don’t know if they did it on purpose or not, or nor would I claim to. It did happen and I guess that’s the end of the story.”

Burton’s teammate, Kevin Harvick, added “When you look at all the stuff that they did with the…oil tank lid and the way the lid was designed to come off it sounds, I think the intent was for it all to happen.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. laughed outright at the claim. “The frustrating part for me was him (Smith) saying that there was a mistake in the bolt failing, that’s ridiculous. That’s comical, that is really comical actually and they should not allow him to make those kinds of comments. They should have the crew chief get in there and state an honest answer and they would be better off. But I enjoyed reading his version on the story.”

Jack Roush came out and tried to defend the team himself, spouting righteous indignation at the fact that anyone, especially Toyota Racing’s Lee White, a former Roush employee, would dare think they would cheat intentionally.

“The thing that has not been part of the process has been the definition or the determination, the rate of culpability. I can prove that I was not culpable here and nobody on the team was culpable, and I think that should make a difference. It would make a difference anyplace else in the world. There would be a difference between first-degree murder and manslaughter based on culpability. NASCAR doesn’t provide for that difference. I would like the review board to have participation of other team owners in the review of appeals, as opposed to having it be track operators and NASCAR officials by themselves.”

“What happens if you were driving your car down the race track and you lose your rear bumper?” Roush continued. “I’ll guarantee you that it has more down force in the back and it has less drag. So that’s one of the things that happens where there is not culpability, it’s an action that wasn’t perpetrated by the team, it’s something that happened as the result of an incident on the race track. I don’t see that as being different than a tire vibrating and loosening a fastener.”

Um, yeah Jack, there is a difference. The bumper just doesn’t pop off by itself. It is usually ripped off in a crash, thus also messing up a few other parts of the car besides the bumper.

Then, he added this little gem, pointed at White and Toyota. “Geoff says to me, ‘You might also say that given Lee White has admitted to testing illegal configurations. If I were in NASCAR’s shoes, I would demand to investigate any other testing they’ve done on other illegal configurations, including whether they have or not tested illegal fuels in addition to the rocket fuel they used at Daytona last year (in Michael Waltrip’s car). By the way, I think you should say we are going to test for ourselves to determine whether or not there was a competitive advantage obtained. If a test turned out that there was an advantage, it is unlikely that we will appeal anything other than the accusation that there was anything deliberately done to make the lid fall off based on recent decisions might be able to get our suspension reduced for Bob (Osborne), if we can demonstrate action other than culpability,’”

I think Jack needs to stay focused on his own problems without trying to throw rocks at glass houses. If Jack can say with a straight face he has never, ever tested an illegal configuration on any of his cars, I would be afraid of a bolt of lightning coming down from the heavens.

I think it is as simple as this: If they felt they were being wronged, they would contest the penalty, and keep Crew Chief Bob Osborne on the pit box until such time as NASCAR said they lost the appeal. Throwing in the towel while throwing out all this garbage seems to me to be admitting guilt while trying to deflect blame.

Note to Geoff Smith and Jack Roush: stop treating us like we fell off the turnip truck yesterday. You aren’t winning anyone over, and you are insulting our intelligence.

Discuss this and other racing matters in the Prodigys@Speed Forum

You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News

    Read other articles by Kim Roberson

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