TRACY, TAGLIANI, JUNQUEIRA FINED

[Wheel-Nut]

From the AP:


INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Defending series champion Paul Tracy, Bruno Junqueira and Alex Tagliani were penalized Friday for actions at last Sunday's Champ Car World Series race in Portland, Ore.
Tracy and Junqueira were each fined $10,000 for publicly criticizing series officials and Tracy was docked an additional $5,000 for making an obscene gesture toward the officials. Champ Car said it is also holding 10 championship points in abeyance for each driver pending their behavior the rest of the season.

Tagliani was penalized two points for failing to follow the instructions of officials during the race. The deduction from 63 to 61 points still leaves Tagliani eighth in the standings going into the race July 3 in Cleveland.

[Andrew Longman]

Let's see if I have this right...

Tags ignores blue flags for lap after lap and is never blackflagged, perhaps changing the outcome of the race.

After the race Tracy complains loudly.

OWRS decides Tracy is right and fines and deducts points from Tags

But OWRS decides Tracy was wrong to complain and fine him.

Just to make sure the applesause boss does attack any circus clowns again they put him on probation for the rest of the season.

Got it.

[Steve99]

PT did more than complain. He said the chief steward should be fired. IMHO there is a difference.

What did Bruno complain about? Was it from qualifying?

[RichK]

What did Bruno complain about?

:laugh: Pick a subject!

[JoeBob]

Let's see if I have this right...

Tags ignores blue flags for lap after lap and is never blackflagged, perhaps changing the outcome of the race.

After the race Tracy complains loudly.

OWRS decides Tracy is right and fines and deducts points from Tags

But OWRS decides Tracy was wrong to complain and fine him.

Just to make sure the applesause boss does attack any circus clowns again they put him on probation for the rest of the season.

Got it.

Tracy was not wrong to complain. He was wrong to do it to the media, rather than the officials. I'm a PT fan, but his job is to drive fast and pass cars. The officials' jobs are to enforce the rules. If he keeps his mouth shut to the media, Tag still gets dinged - but PT's wallet doesn't.

[Al Czervik]

:laugh: Pick a subject!
:rofl:

[Andrew Longman]

PT did more than complain. He said the chief steward should be fired. IMHO there is a difference.

Fair enough, but I'd bet if he simply complained in the media that they did a lousy job he still would have been fined. They fined him when he called Kneifel a circus clown (which was much funnier).

But none of that is unusual. Baseball, Football and hockey (maybe others) all have very strict, no exception rules against complaining about individual officials and their calls.

I think its a little silly to make such a big deal of it, especially when OWRS essentially admitted Tracy was right, but it is not unusual.

I also doubt if the fine and probation will shut Tracy up. He'll find some way to make his displeasure known within the letter of the rule.

[FTG]

It's kind of wierd that the man who hires PT also owns the series.

Would Forsythe really allow the company that he partially owns to take 10 points away from PT and costs for Forsythe the driver's championship?

[Insomniac]

It's kind of wierd that the man who hires PT also owns the series.

Would Forsythe really allow the company that he partially owns to take 10 points away from PT and costs for Forsythe the driver's championship?

If you wanted to run your business properly, you have to. They can't give their drivers a break and fine everyone else. PT didn't lose the 10 points, yet. Besides, if they make a profit from the fine, GF probably gets 45% of it. ;)

[Don Quixote]

I'm glad the PT speaks his mind. He's not always right, but it makes for great entertainment. Political correctness and athletespeak doesn't draw much interest.

[Clown]

There's an idea. Fine the whiners :laugh:

[cartcanuck]

I don't like the idea of holding 10 points over their head for the rest of the season. It's could have a very arbitrary effect on teh champoinship by someone "deciding" that the points should be taken away for another offense. Put them on probation with the threat of a 1 race suspension. But this "we might take away 10 pionts" is silly to me.

champ car needs to get their act together during the race. Throw the blue flag, and enforce it with a black flag. Don't penalize people after the race for your inability to enforce the rules during the race.