I'll give Joe and J.D. Gibbs credit for one thing.
Both took full responsibility for the actions of their Nationwide teams in the wake of the dyno cheating scandal last weekend at Michigan.
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| 'We'll deal with this and move on,' says JGR president J.D. Gibbs. (Getty Images) |
"We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us," he said. "We will also investigate internally how this incident took place and who was involved and make whatever decisions are necessary to ensure that this kind of situation never happens again."
Crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Radcliffe might never get the opportunity for anything like gas-pedal-gate from happening again after NASCAR hammered Gibbs operation on Wednesday.
In addition to the expected monetary and points penalties, Rogers and Radcliffe were indefinitely suspended by NASCAR and there were reports the sanctioning body was contemplating pulling their annual hard cards for life.
That would be an extreme -- and appropriate -- response. It is more stringent than the usual fines, suspensions and loss of points, and certainly would get everybody's attention in the garage.
"We take full responsibility and accept the penalties NASCAR has levied against us today," the Gibbs organization responded in a statement after the NASCAR's decision was announced. "We had come to the conclusion that we would add to any NASCAR-imposed penalties with the minimum being suspension for the remainder of the season for those involved, including our two Nationwide Series crew chiefs.
And according to Gibbs, both crew chiefs might soon face a trip to the unemployment line as well.
"If you can't abide by that, go find somewhere else (where) you can do it," Gibbs said. "It's not worth it for us. Hopefully that's the history that we have. I think if you look back that's the way it is. So we'll deal with this and move on. It's obviously frustrating for all of us."
While the Gibbs organization doesn't have a completely clean record during its NASCAR tenure, the philosophy of the team has always been one of honor.
"I think for us, if you can't come in, whatever business you are in, and do it the right way, what's the point?" J.D. Gibbs said. "If we want to do it to get the satisfaction, do it the right way. If you ask NASCAR, we've been a great partner throughout the years. We try and do things the right way."
Those beliefs were broken by the Michigan incident and the transgression of Rogers, Radcliffe and the other team members involved literally rocked JGR to its foundation.
