NASCAR might have gone too far in its punishment of lug nut violations. At least that's a growing line of thought.
Rodney Childers sat home this week while his driver, Kevin Harvick, raced at Pocono. Why? Childers was suspended one race because one of the 20 lug nuts was loose on Harvick's car at Indianapolis.
MORE: Is lug nut focus foolish? | Stewart's response to fine | What got it started
Rodney Childers (Getty Images)
Maybe it was the result of a rainy day at Pocono. Maybe it was time for discussion of the draconian measures NASCAR is taking in its penalties. But the issue of suspending crew chiefs for lug nut violations was hot.
As it floated in the prerace ether, the issue became something of a cause. Here's why. Childers missed the Pocono race, was fined $20,000 and placed on probation the remainder of the season because that one lug nut was improperly installed.
All this circles back to Tony Stewart, whose comments about loose or missing lug nuts being a safety hazard sparked a hard response from stock car racing's overlords. Stewart was fined for negative comments about NASCAR, which vindicated his comments with harsh lug nut penalties while leaving his punishment in place.
Stewart is co-owner of the team for which Harvick drives and thus is Childers' boss. Not that Childers is pointing fingers at Stewart.
No, it was his idea to make everyone stop hitting 3 lug nuts. I never heard him say a word about suspending anyone. https://t.co/AkkfkWeTFj
— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) July 31, 2016
Childers had a running Twitter conversation on the subject on Sunday with racing analyst Kenny Wallace. It included this.
@Kenny_Wallace but NO pit crew is perfect every single time, and mistakes are going to happen. Suspensions for one mistake are just stupid..
— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) July 31, 2016
Don't be surprised to learn that NASCAR has fined Childers for speaking (or typing) ill of the sport. That's an absolute no-no.
Childers isn't the first crew chief to be suspended under NASCAR's lug nut crackdown. Randall Burnett, boss in AJ Allmendinger's pit; and Tony Gibson, Kurt Busch's chief, were fined $20,000 and suspended one race in June — ironically, the first Pocono race. Chad Johnston, chief of Kyle Larson's crew, drew the same penalties after the first Pocono race.
Maybe Pocono is a magnet for lug nut nuttiness. Remember, Busch won that Pocono race with lead engineer John Klausmeier atop his box.
Adam Stevens, crew chief for Kyle Busch, got the same penalties after his car was found in violation of lug nut rules after May's Kansas race.
Nuts (Getty Images)
So here is the question: Are NASCAR lug nut penalties too harsh?
It's easy to say yes; no accidents have been caused by cars running with one loose lug nut.
It's easy to say no; there is no compromise when safety is involved.
It's correct to say NASCAR needs to address this situation with the drivers' council, car owners and crew chiefs. Call a meeting, hash it out.
NASCAR is great, if that's the right word, at making changes on the fly. It would do well to at least consider altering its harsh penalties regarding lug nuts.