By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
A NASCAR appeals panel sided with Joe Gibbs Racing on Wednesday and eased some of the penalties imposed for having an illegal part in Matt Kenseth's race-winning engine at Kansas last month.
A parts review by Toyota after Matt Kenseth's penalty led the manufacturer to pull three engines from Michael Waltrip Racing's inventory as a precautionary move.
NASCAR has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to engines, tires and fuel on a race car. Anything even slightly improper is dealt with swiftly and severely. NASCAR always throws the book at offenders.
As punishment, Kenseth was stripped of 50 driver points in standings, as well as the three bonus points he earned for the win that would have been applied in seeding for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended six races. Car owner Joe Gibbs also was suspended six races.
Matt Kenseth's race-winning car from Kansas failed inspection at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, The Associated Press has learned.
NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow is a thing of the past.
Toyota will use a re-designed Camry for NASCAR's 2013 Sprint Cup season.
