NASCAR NOTEBOOK \ News and notes
Record fine: NASCAR has suspended driver Carl Long for the next 12 Sprint Cup races and fined crew chief Charles Swing $200,000, the largest penalty in the sport’s history. Swing also was suspended until Aug. 18 for using an engine that was too big for NASCAR’s specifications last weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Long was docked a NASCAR-record 200 points. Additionally, Swing and Long were placed on probation until Dec. 31. Car owner Danielle Long, Carl’s wife, also was suspended 12 races, docked 200 owner points and placed on probation until Dec. 31. The record fine exceeds the $150,000 Robby Gordon’s crew chief, Frank Kerr, received in March 2008. Several drivers and owners have been docked 100 points in recent years. Long has made just 23 career Cup starts, and has not appeared in a points-paying Cup race since 2006. He finished last in the 35-car field in a qualifying event for Saturday night’s All-Star race, dropping out after three laps because of an engine problem. Long, who also failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500, first had engine trouble during practice last Friday. The team switched engines, and under NASCAR rules, the sanctioning body examined the bad engine. NASCAR discovered an issue and sent the engine to the Research & Development Center for more tests, which determined the engine exceeded maximum cubic inch displacement specifications.
Drug test: NASCAR has given Jeremy Mayfield’s attorney a copy of the suspended driver’s toxicology report. Charlotte attorney Bill Diehl requested the documents from NASCAR, spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday. NASCAR complied and sent the paperwork Tuesday to Diehl, who has represented several Charlotte-area athletic figures in high-profile cases. Mayfield was suspended indefinitely May 9 for failing a random drug test.
Associated Press