Daytona breaks the record – for crew chief fines…

A total of 18 Winston Cup crew chiefs were collared for technical infringements discovered after Saturday's qualifying session for next weekend's Daytona 500, with two receiving a four-race 'touchline' ban.

Tony Furr, crew chief to Hendrick Motorsport's Jerry Nadeau, was fined US$10,000 (£6500) and banned for four races starting at Rockingham on February 25 for running an illegal suspension part on Nadeau's Chevrolet.

Nadeau's run had been good enough for second fastest overall, but when a track safety worker spotted a small piece of metal falling off the car in Turn One of the 2.5-mile Florida tri-oval, NASCAR found that the car's right-rear jackscrew (the rod that adjusts suspension height) had been designed so that a one-inch piece snapped off under high aerodynamic loading. Once the part had broken off, the car's body was able to run lower at the rear, thereby reducing drag from the rear spoiler.

Nadeau was forced to take part in Monday's second round qualifying in order to be illegible for Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races, but could only manage 47th fastest time out of the 52-car field.

Furr, who will not be allowed in the NASCAR garages or pit lane for the duration of ban, was also fined $2500 for running an illegal fuel cell.

NASCAR's get tough policy also saw Jason Leffler's crew chief Kevin Cram fined US$10,000 and suspended for four races for running illegal fuel in the Winston Cup rookie's Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge.

At the end of its purge, the governing body had pocketed a total of US$40,750 in crew chief fines, including US$6000 to another Hendrick employee, Gary DeHart. DeHart, who runs double champ Terry Labonte's Chevy, was brought to book for an unapproved roof deflector and an illegal fuel cell and has been put on probation for one year.

Although the money is small change to most Winston Cup teams, NASCAR believes the number of fines and the severity of the two bans has sounded an early warning to the teams that its quest for parity between the four competing makes will not be compromised by 'liberal interpretations' of the rule book.