Kyle Petty blasts Jeff Gordon for ‘everyone does it’ comment after the HMS hood louvers penalty saga

The $400 K penalty imposed on HMS is the most given to any team in the sport’s history.

Kyle Petty blasts Jeff Gordon for ‘everyone does it’ comment after the HMS hood louvers penalty saga

Kyle Petty and Jeff Godon

Hendrick Motorsports, one of the most successful NASCAR teams of all time, was imposed a record $400K fine by NASCAR for unauthorized modification of hood louvers. Alongside the fine, all 4 teams had their playoff and championship points taken away, and all 4 HMS crew chiefs were suspended for 4 races. HMS has already appealed against the penalty, and a three-member independent body is set to hear their case. Kaulig Racing joins HMS in the appeal as they were also served similar punishments.

HMS has been vocal about their displeasure about the sanctions, which they deem unnecessary, and the aftermath of the lack of transparent communication from NASCAR. The one thing hurting the team more than the fines is the deduced playoff points that put them in a compromising situation once the chase starts.

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Among the major critics of the penalty is 4 times Cup series champion Jeff Gordon who is the Vice Chairman of HMS. He has promised a strong initiative from the Chevy giants to tackle the issues around the lack of precision in single vendor-supplied parts. And during his recent appearance, he pointed out that it’s not just HMS. All teams modify the parts before the races. His former rival Kyle Petty wasn’t pleased with the champion’s comments and called him out.

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“I just don’t think that’s as much factual as it is. He’s trying to hold up a deflector and send everybody looking in a different direction. I don’t think everybody does it because of exactly what they’re facing: 100 (regular-season) points, 10 playoff points, and 100 grand. Front Row Motorsports is not modifying parts, OK? They can’t afford it. Spire Motorsports is not modifying parts. They can’t afford it,” Petty said in NBC NASCAR Podcast.

“I can’t believe that they modified it. The Kaulig thing leads me to believe what Jeff and those guys have said: It came off the shelf that way. It wasn’t that they modified it, it was a defect from the factory…You never want to pitch everybody in the river, and he kind of pulled everybody in the river behind him,” Petty added.

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What did Jeff Gordan say about the HMS penalty?

Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon raised some eyebrows after his comments during Fox’s NASCAR show ahead of last week’s Atlanta Cup race. He said that all teams in the Cup garage modify some parts of their cars though they are not allowed to do so. Gordan implied that the teams still follow the Bobby Hamilton philosophy “it’s not cheating until you get caught”.

“There’s this kind of narrative up and down pit road that (with) the single-source parts that you’re not allowed to touch them. NASCAR said you’re not allowed to touch or modify them. I guarantee you up and down this grid right here, there’s not a single car that hasn’t in some way been touched or modified or done something to one of those single-source parts,” Jeff Gordan said.

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