All three RCR teams and all three
Turner teams had the upper front bumper covers of their cars confiscated by
NASCAR during opening inspection on Thursday at Richmond International Raceway.
Any penalties will be announced next
week for the cars driven by Elliott
Sadler, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick with RCR and James Buescher, Justin
Allgaier and Kasey Kahne with Turner.
The nose pieces, or upper front bumper covers,
are designed by manufacturers and approved by NASCAR. The Nationwide Series
rulebook states "cutting and reshaping of bumper covers will not be
permitted."
Series director Joe Balash said the RCR teams had
changes made on both sides of the nose piece, while the Turner teams were
altered on just one side.
Balash said he wasn't sure why the changes were limited to one manufacturer.
"Sometimes there are different trends in the garage. Sometimes they cross manufacturers and sometimes they don't," Balash said.
Balash said NASCAR's concern with the teams is altering a piece of the car which has to be run "as-is."
A visual inspection of one of the Turner team's
nose pieces showed a complete absence of the contoured area around the left
wheel hub, compared to a generic manufacturer
piece.
The rulebook
allows NASCAR
officials the ability to use bumper covers provided by manufacturers as a guide
in determining whether a competitor's bumper cover conforms to specifications.
Sadler contended NASCAR officials confiscated the
pieces through a visual inspection, not by measuring by templates. The rulebook,
however, allows for such a determination.
Sadler, currently the series points leader, has
potentially the most to lose with a sizable NASCAR penalty.
"It's the same car I've run already twice this year and passed post-race tech since we won both races," Sadler said. "We don't really know what is going to happen."
