Post by dalejrfan on Feb 18, 2006 16:49:51 GMT -5
Most drivers don't want to know about cheating
Petty says others, including himself, are first to know
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a theory when it comes to whether a crew chief should tell the driver he's bending the rules.
Cheating, that is.
"If you're cheating, the less people that know about it the better,'' Eanrhardt said. "You're not going to tell your driver. At least I wouldn't. I wouldn't tell anybody.''
Elliott Sadler, who will start third in Sunday's Daytona 500, agreed.
"If they're doing something that's gray area, don't tell me,'' he said. "I don't even want to know. I just want to drive the car and we'll work on the handling side of it, but all the tricks of the trade for qualifying and stuff that these guys do, I don't even want to know.''
When Johnson says he didn't know that crew chief Chad Knaus used an illegal device to push out the rear window of his car before Sunday's qualifying run -- a move that resulted in Knaus' ejection from Daytona International Speedway through the 500 -- Earnhardt and Sadler believe him.
Greg Biffle is skeptical.
"Let me fill you in on something,'' he said. "If a crew chief is cheating, the driver knows.''
So Johnson's lying?
"I don't know about that,'' Biffle said. "But anytime I've had anything a little leery on my car, I know about it. We're [Biffle and crew chief Doug Richert] teammates. We communicate night and day.
"We're sitting in our motor home in our underwear talking about racing. We know everything that is going on.''
Kyle Petty sides with Earnhardt and Sadler. He said there have been times when he's come to the track, including Daytona, with an illegal car and his crew chief knows nothing about it.
"I've got the key to the shop and I can go in there at night,'' said Petty, who runs Petty Enterprises with his father, seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty.
"I'm being totally, blatantly honest. I'm not saying I've always been straight up on everything I've done. I'm not sure there is anybody in here that can say that.''
Petty would not get specific on when his car was illegal.
"'Cause it's been too recent,'' he said with a laugh. "Not this year, though.''
But Petty believes Johnson could be ignorant of what NASCAR called a blatant violation by Knaus, who is expected to be suspended for at least two more races.
"There are drivers who know absolutely everything, and there are drivers that don't want to know anything but how do you turn this thing on and off,'' he said. "There's a lot of them in here, and that's not a knock on them 'cause they win races.
"But when you look at it like that, you can believe Jimmie didn't know what was going on.''
Petty says others, including himself, are first to know
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a theory when it comes to whether a crew chief should tell the driver he's bending the rules.
Cheating, that is.
"If you're cheating, the less people that know about it the better,'' Eanrhardt said. "You're not going to tell your driver. At least I wouldn't. I wouldn't tell anybody.''
Elliott Sadler, who will start third in Sunday's Daytona 500, agreed.
"If they're doing something that's gray area, don't tell me,'' he said. "I don't even want to know. I just want to drive the car and we'll work on the handling side of it, but all the tricks of the trade for qualifying and stuff that these guys do, I don't even want to know.''
When Johnson says he didn't know that crew chief Chad Knaus used an illegal device to push out the rear window of his car before Sunday's qualifying run -- a move that resulted in Knaus' ejection from Daytona International Speedway through the 500 -- Earnhardt and Sadler believe him.
Greg Biffle is skeptical.
"Let me fill you in on something,'' he said. "If a crew chief is cheating, the driver knows.''
So Johnson's lying?
"I don't know about that,'' Biffle said. "But anytime I've had anything a little leery on my car, I know about it. We're [Biffle and crew chief Doug Richert] teammates. We communicate night and day.
"We're sitting in our motor home in our underwear talking about racing. We know everything that is going on.''
Kyle Petty sides with Earnhardt and Sadler. He said there have been times when he's come to the track, including Daytona, with an illegal car and his crew chief knows nothing about it.
"I've got the key to the shop and I can go in there at night,'' said Petty, who runs Petty Enterprises with his father, seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty.
"I'm being totally, blatantly honest. I'm not saying I've always been straight up on everything I've done. I'm not sure there is anybody in here that can say that.''
Petty would not get specific on when his car was illegal.
"'Cause it's been too recent,'' he said with a laugh. "Not this year, though.''
But Petty believes Johnson could be ignorant of what NASCAR called a blatant violation by Knaus, who is expected to be suspended for at least two more races.
"There are drivers who know absolutely everything, and there are drivers that don't want to know anything but how do you turn this thing on and off,'' he said. "There's a lot of them in here, and that's not a knock on them 'cause they win races.
"But when you look at it like that, you can believe Jimmie didn't know what was going on.''