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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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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