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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s loss of points as punishment for cursing during a postrace interview at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was consistent with NASCAR's policy on such matters, says Benny Parsons of NBCSports.com.

Earlier this season driver Johnny Sauter was fined $25,000 and docked 25 points after cursing during a radio interview following a Busch Series race in Las Vegas. So after Dale Earnhardt Jr. let slip a curse word during a postrace interview last Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, NASCAR had no choice but to follow precedent and penalize Junior 25 points, knocking him out of first place in the Chase for the Championship.

No room
to wiggle
NASCAR's action against Junior, which was announced Tuesday morning, included a $10,000 fine.

By virtue of his win at Talladega, Junior had taken over the top spot in the Chase -- NASCAR's new playoff format to decide a Nextel Cup champion.

But after the NASCAR's actions against him, Junior falls to second in the Cup standings, 12 points back of Kurt Busch -- whom he had led by 13 points after last Sunday's race.

There are seven races left in the Chase.

Junior put himself in position to get penalized when answering a question about the significance of his fifth victory at Talladega.

Earnhardt told NBC Sports, "It don't mean s--- right now. Daddy's won here 10 times."

Dale Earnhardt Inc., the racing operation for which Junior drives, will appeal NASCAR's decision.

NASCAR has taken some hits after some recent decisions affecting changes in the Cup schedule and the format for deciding an overall champion in its top series, so its credibility would have been hurt had it not penalized Junior for his cursing.

Sauter and Ron Hornaday Jr. (in a live radio interview after a Busch race in June) both used the same curse word Junior did -- and like Sauter and Junior, Hornaday Jr. was hit with a loss of 25 points.

Not buying Junior's defense   
It's a shame Junior could lose the championship because this penalty.

I hope if Junior does call short of winning the Cup title this season, it's by at least 26 points.

I know Junior pleaded his case by saying that when Sauter used the curse word, it was in anger, while when he said it was in jubilation.

He claimed two different circumstances, and was obviously hoping NASCAR would see it that way.

My response is if someone is celebrating and does something wrong, is it any different than someone who is angry and does something wrong?

I really feel for Junior, but to me the context in which a curse word is said does not excuse the fact it was wrong to say.

The word Junior said is one of those that just can't be uttered in an interview by anyone involved with NASCAR racing.

A "tainted" title?
If it turns out the Nextel Cup title is won by a driver other than Junior by 15 points or less, it will likely be looked at as tainted at the time, and a hot topic of discussion for a while.

After a few weeks, however, I think things will simmer down, and as time goes on, I think it will become a non-issue.

Case in point: In 1990, Mark Martin -- who has never won a Cup title -- was docked 42 points at Richmond in the second race of the season.

It was a penalty I felt was unwarranted, and Martin ended up losing that season's Cup championship to the late Dale Earnhardt by 26 points.

By the majority of today's race fans have either forgotten that, or aren't even aware of it.

Whoever wins this Chase is the Cup champion. Period.

Penalty could have a plus
I think what will come out of this is that Junior and the team of the No. 8 Chevrolet will be stronger.

The team is close-knit and Junior has some family among those on it, and I expect the team to stick together and get past this unfortunate incident.

I think their philosophy will not be to take Junior to task for what happened, but rather get Junior and everyone else in the mindset of getting back the points lost.

And I don't think that Junior personally will get hung up on this and keep thinking about it.

I feel he'll put it in the past, move on, and try and win his first Cup title.

Safety net for slips of the tongue
I just think anyone associated with NASCAR who is interviewed has got to maintain control of what they are saying, no matter what the circumstances, and no matter how angry and upset they may be over a particular incident or issue.

I believe the onus to keep the language in an interview clean is on the interviewee, not on the network or media outlet conducting the interview.

That said, NBC Sports will begin using a five-second delay in its NASCAR coverage on Oct. 10 at Kansas Speedway.

The delay will provide a level of protection against anything inappropriate going out over the air.

As for the use of a delay during interviews on televised Cup races, I feel since the technology is there, it won't hurt to use it.

In this way, those interviewed would be virtually assured that if they do slip up and curse, it's not going to get on the air.

Raising level of awareness
I'll tell you what -- I doubt very seriously that we'll ever hear the curse word used by Sauter, Hornaday Jr., and Junior again in any sort of media setting in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing.

If drivers didn't get the message when Sauter and Hornaday Jr. were penalized, they will now when a driver who is in the thick of contention for a Cup title gets cut no slack by NASCAR for the language he uses -- whether accidentally or not.