Roger Penske Reacts After NASCAR Confiscate Wheels Amidst Austin Cindric’s Daytona 500 Heroics
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MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 22: Team owner Roger Penske celebrates Josef Newgarden #2 of United States and Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet winning the NTT IndyCar Series championship following the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 22, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
A day before the Daytona 500, NASCAR officials confiscated several wheels from Team Penske and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Many wondered whether these two teams would be the first to be on the wrong side of NASCAR’s newer, much stricter regulations.
However, Roger Penske isn’t worried about that simply because he believes they weren’t doing anything suspicious, covert, or worth penalizing them for.
Journalist Bob Pockrass recently reported that Penske had already notified NASCAR about the issue with the wheels as well as what they felt needed to be done to the pinholes.
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“We certainly talked about it with them,” Penske said.
Roger Penske said the team notified NASCAR a week ago about the issue with the wheels and what they felt needed to be done to the pinholes. Said they weren't doing anything covert. Penske: "We certainly talked about it with them."
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 21, 2022
What is NASCAR suspecting Roger Penske and RFK of doing?
In order to understand what NASCAR is suspecting the two teams of doing, we first need to understand the changes to the wheel from the Gen 6 to the Next Gen.
The major changes are that the wheels are bigger and instead of having five lugs, they come with a single lug nut, which means there’s a center lock that keeps the wheels in place.
So, because of this center lock, the brake rotor has drive pins in front of the rotor hat. And it is those pins that enable the rotor to fit onto the drive holes in the rim.
Penske/RFK issue apparently whether pinholes (this is another team’s wheel) can be grounded/smoothed b/c get gouged in use, thus difficult to put on or give false sense of security if on. Mixed views on if should be OK’d, if it increases hole size & how egregious to do it w/o OK pic.twitter.com/qyhJnGK8zN
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 18, 2022
It is those holes that NASCAR suspects Team Penske and RFK are manipulating by making them bigger or beveled to their advantage. Because what this will do is simply smoothen up the process of putting into the holes.
Currently, it is being speculated that NASCAR is considering whether or not this practice should be allowed.
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USA Today via Reuters
Feb 16, 2022; Daytona, FL, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric (2) during qualifying for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Whenever there’s a big overhaul in the regulations, there are a lot of gray areas. And teams, more often than not, try to explore and exploit those areas, until, of course, they’re deemed illegal, or re-contextualized by the governing body.
As for this particular issue in NASCAR, most probably the consequences will be on extremes; either there will be no penalties or there will be massive penalties as the rulebook suggests.
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Because this incident is an indication that teams are indeed looking at ways to gain an advantage wherever possible.
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