Troy Aikman [owner of #96-Tony Raines/Hall of Fame Racing] said the most surprising thing he's learned since getting into NASCAR in 2006 is how series officials handle penalties. "I still haven't been able to quite figure out how NASCAR decides on their degrees of punishment," he said. "How those are handed down. I don't want to use the word inconsistency." Aikman cited his team's first race from 2006, when it was docked 25 points and fined $25,000 for using an illegal carburetor in qualifying at the Daytona 500. At the same race, Jimmie Johnson's team set up the car so it could change height during qualifying. No points were deducted, but the team lost its crew chief for four races. "I think for the most part," Aikman said, "how things are handled and how punishment is given out [in the NFL] is pretty consistent from one case to the next, and I don't know that is the case in NASCAR."(
Dallas Morning News)
