The Sprint Cup garage was abuzz with chatter on Friday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with parties from all corners weighing in with their thoughts on the 100-point penalty dished out to Las Vegas winner Carl Edwards and his #99 Roush-Fenway team following last Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400.
When the lid of the oil reservoir on Edwards' #99 was discovered to be missing in post race inspection at Las Vegas the Roush-Fenway Racing team insisted that the bolt holding the lid in place must have worked loose during the course of the race and that there had been no deliberate intention to cheat on their part.
However NASCAR felt differently and slapped both driver and team with a 100-point penalty, dropping Edwards from first to seventh in the Sprint Cup standings, and fined and suspended crew chief Bob Osborne. Although team boss Jack Roush has vigorously defended his team's position, there appears to be little sympathy for Edwards among his peers.
To say they (Roush-Fenway) didn't mean it insults my intelligence,” was Elliott Sadler's blunt assessment. “We did it half my career in the #21 and the #38 car. We spend $3-4 million a year in testing at the wind tunnel trying to get a gain or take an advantage, when all you've gotta do is take the oil tank lid off and get 100 count of downforce. I'm just impressed by how well they did it.”
“We tested in the wind tunnel and it (removing the lid) does add down force, about 19 pounds to our car,” added Dale Earnhardt Jr, who finished second to Edwards in Las Vegas. “Mr. Smith or the guy that runs Roush, saying it was a bolt failure, that was ridiculous. He should just come out and be honest about it.”
Like Sadler and Earnhardt Jr, 2007
Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick felt that the mistake wasn't entirely accidental.
“When you look at all the stuff that they did with the side window and the oil tank lid and the way the lid was designed to come off it sounds, I think the intent was for it all to happen,” stated Harvick. “When you start messing with the safety devices and things on the side window, you're doing things that are a pretty big no, no.”
![Elliott Sadler - Dodge Dealers Avenger [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/303459.jpg)
