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Ed Carpenter Racing announced...

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Castroneves Fails Texas Tech

INDYCAR announced Tuesday afternoon a penalty levied against the #3 Team Penske of Helio Castroneves following his win in Texas. The league found that Castroneves' car failed post-race technical inspection for not complying with Rule 14.6.6.14, which reads:
The exit of the underwing height is 7.600
inches with a tolerance of plus 0.050 inches and
minus 0.000 inches
Team Penske has been fined $35,000 and docked 15 entrant points.

“Obviously we are very disappointed that the No. 3 car did not pass post-race inspection after Saturday’s race at Texas," said Penske Racing President, Tim Cindric. "The rule in question (14.6.6.14) states that the diffuser exit must measure 7.600." After the race, ours was 7.575” because we neglected to tighten the braces that position the rear of the diffuser following pre-race inspection. The way Helio’s car raced did not provide any advantage as a lower diffuser height actually adds drag and reduces downforce. To ensure this is the case, we ran this configuration in the wind tunnel on Monday morning and found that the No. 3 car actually raced with three pounds less downforce and one pound more drag than what it would have had if we tightened the underwing braces properly.”

The penalization of Team Penske marks the 2nd year in a row that the Texas race winner was disciplined following tech. Last season Dale Coyne Racing was fined $7,500 and docked 5 entrant points for use of an illegal sidepod top deck component.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

IndyCar Withdraws Rahal Fine

INDYCAR announced Saturday night they've withdrawn the $10,000 fine issued to Graham Rahal during May's Indianapolis 500.

Officials determined Rahal did not violate Rule 7.1.3.2.6.
The pit lane will start and end at
points designated by Officials. The pit entrance
and pit exit lanes are considered part of the
Track. Drivers exiting the pit lane shall rejoin the
pack relative to the position they are to the
Safety Car and/or Cars on Track as they cross
the blend out line. Taking improper position
upon leaving the pit lane or failure of a Driver
and/or Entrant to follow the direction of Officials
may result in a minimum one-lap penalty. The
Official’s determination of the order is not
subject to protest or appeal.
The same $10k fine was issued to Rahal's teammate, James Jakes, who INDYCAR determined did violate the rule on lap 39. While not withdrawing the fine like Rahal, INDYCAR suspended the penalty "provided the member does not engage in similar violations in the future.  Should there be future violations of the rule by the member, INDYCAR shall re-instate the fine and additional penalties."