Allen Bestwick

Jimmie Johnson and his team will continue to dominate discussion this weekend at the California Speedway outside Los Angeles. But I feel strongly that NASCAR was wrong not to deduct driver points Johnson after his impressive victory at the Daytona 500.

The Daytona 500 winner being in the spotlight the following weekend is nothing unusual, but the topics of discussion surrounding Johnson go far beyond his big win in the Great American Race.

I anticipate many opinions on the additional three-race suspension and $25,000 fine NASCAR handed crew chief Chad Knaus for altering the rear window of the car to change its aerodynamics for the Daytona 500’s time trials.

And there will be varied thoughts on how Johnson might fare racing without him as lead engineer Darian Grubb calls the shots during the next three races.

Frankly, the fact that Johnson was not docked any points surprises me because it totally goes against NASCAR’s desire to be consistent with the application of its penalties. 

NASCAR says that the line between deducting points or not is based on whether a special part was used in the violation.  So a team that fabricates a special piece and places it on their car for the specific purpose of violating a rule gets a deduction in driver points.

But a team that simply rearranges parts legally allowed on a car in such a way as to violate a rule does not get a deduction in driver points? 

I don’t get it. 

Slide show   Great American Race Check out top images from before, during, after the Daytona 500.

Either way, the intent of the violator was to find a performance advantage by getting around the rules, and it’s completely beyond me how any distinction can be made between the two situations.

Penalty not quite stiff enough
On Tuesday when NASCAR handed down it’s penalty to Knaus for the Daytona 500 qualifying inspection violation, it contained something most expected -- an additional three-race suspension for Knaus.

But the ruling did not contain something most expected -- a deduction of points from the team’s driver and car owner totals. 

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A couple of years ago NASCAR began docking teams championship points as penalties for technical inspection infractions.  It was thought that monetary fines alone weren’t proving to be a strong enough deterrent to keep teams from bending the regulations. 

In fact, a penalty handed out to another team for a technical violation after Daytona qualifying did include deductions for drivers and race teams.

NASCAR will have a tough time explaining this one away.