Last week on Information Salad, I mentioned that I thought something was going on with the #99 team. After hearing the news about the oil reservoir cover being totally absent from the vehicle, I had a feeling that someone did it intentionally. Jack Rousch has said that they have found no evidence that anyone did it intentionally, but that doesn’t mean no one did it intentionally. And for the record, the fact they are not appealing the penalties tells me that they know that too.

Roush Fenway Racing on Wednesday announced that it will not appeal the penalties imposed by NASCAR following post-race inspection of the No. 99 car at Las Vegas (read more).

Inspectors found that the cover of the oil reservoir encasement mounted behind the driver’s seat was off, a circumstance that constitutes an unauthorized aerodynamic modification. NASCAR rules require that the cover be bolted securely to the encasement.

If Jack Rousch was adament that no one did it intentionally, he would have appealed the penalties. Jack Rousch is a man of principle and in this case it’s the principle of the point. If you didn’t cheat, you should fight like hell to convince people you didn’t cheat. Why on Earth would you let it go, if you were so adament it was not done intentionally?

“We have conducted a thorough internal investigation and have found no evidence whatsoever that anyone intended for the bolt/nut fastener to fail to secure the lid for the entire race,” team owner Jack Roush said.

“We have subsequently added protective measures to insure that the lid will remain fastened even if a failure of this type should again occur.”

It just doesn’t make sense to me to let it go as far as penalties are concerned, yet still stand there and say you’re taking action to ensure this “accident” doesn’t happen again. Unless of course that “accident” got a pink slip in recent days.

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