They probably knew it was coming, but probably not to this extent.Haas-CNC Racing, which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup cars No. 66 and No. 77, had more than just a book thrown at them Wednesday as NASCAR levied the penalties for rear-wing mount infractions stemming from last weekend's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
The penalties, for both teams, included:
- 150 Driver points from Johnny Sauter and Scott Riggs
- 150 Owner points from the No. 66 and No. 70
- Six week suspensions from Sprint Cup Series racing for both crew chiefs and car chiefs
- $100,000 fine for crew chiefs "Bootie" Barker and Dave Skog, each
- Both race cars will not be returned after NASCAR confiscated them Friday at LMS
In all, having rear-wing brackets that weren't correct -- Barker maintains he's used them all season -- just cost the team roughly a three-quarters of a million dollars.
I understand NASCAR's desire to clean up the sport and prevent teams from skirting the rules, but costing a team $750,000 seems a little overwhelming, considering the stats the Haas-CNC teams have put together in 2008.
Jeremy Mayfield
For the guys who apply the name decals to the Haas CNC No. 66 Chevrolets and the No. 36 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, Monday brought plenty of new work.
The last time Dale Jarrett wasn't in a race Geoffrey Bodine took home the trophy. Terry Labonte, Rick Mast, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin rounded out the top 5 in that race -- the 1994 Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro.
Scott Riggs knows what it feels like to miss a race. After all, he missed the biggest one two years ago at Daytona to lead off the 2005 campaign. Thursday afternoon, however, Riggs drove like a man that didn't want to feel that way again. 
