Gibbs team contrite over cheating incident

BROOKLYN, Mich. – J.D. Gibbs' nostrils flared as he spoke, embarrassment written all over his reddened face and blatant anger coming through crystal clear in his raised voice.

As the normally jovial, mild-mannered president of Joe Gibbs Racing addressed the media Sunday morning, the shame of his organization being caught cheating after Saturday's Nationwide Series race was nothing short of stark for the younger Gibbs.

He wasn't going to try to deny it or point fingers of blame elsewhere. His father's team was caught with its hand in the cookie jar and there was no reason to sugarcoat it.

"This is clearly an intentional opportunity to lead somebody astray," Gibbs said. "We’re not going to (deny it)."

For an organization that prides itself on racing with Christian principles and running a clean, non-cheating ship, much of the NASCAR world is now scoffing at both.

NASCAR inspectors found magnets under the gas pedals of JGR's two entries after Saturday's Nationwide Series race. An old trick in NASCAR's cheating annals, magnets are sometimes used to keep the gas pedal from being depressed fully, thus fooling motor dynamometer tests into thinking full horsepower is being expounded in those tests.

As a result, expect very heavy penalties to come forth from NASCAR, most likely on Tuesday.

Based upon other cheating penalties assessed by the sanctioning body over the last two years for other incidents, it's likely JGR will be fined at least $100,000 to $150,000 and lose at least 100 to 150 owner points.

Crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff will also likely be penalized $100,000 each and will also likely be suspended for the next six races – if not longer.

"We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us," team owner Joe Gibbs said in a statement. "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.

"The expectations we set for everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing begins with me, and I personally apologize to NASCAR, our partners and our fans for the negative light this situation has cast upon all of us."

J.D. Gibbs did not immediately blame Rogers and Ratcliff, as they may not have been aware of the intentional attempt to manipulate the dyno test. But, he added, he, his father and the crew chiefs are ultimately responsible, nonetheless.

"(The blame) starts with ownership and falls on our shoulders," Gibbs said. "When you've got management in place and crew chiefs in place, I think everyone has a level of responsibility and it starts with us. That's the frustrating part of it. They know how we operate and this isn't it.

"The crew chief, yeah, they are responsible for what happens with that car on the track. And if something happens that they don't know about, they should know about it."

Gibbs said that when an internal investigation is completed by company officials, some employees could be fired.

"No matter what NASCAR does, we’re going to address this issue in-house, figure out exactly what happened and those that were responsible," he said. "There’s going to be a punishment for that."

Although the younger Gibbs believed they had no knowledge of the attempt to fool NASCAR inspectors, drivers Tony Stewart (finished third in Saturday's race) and Joey Logano (finished seventh) will also likely lose 100 or more driver points when NASCAR issues penalties for the infractions.

JGR's No. 18 and 20 Toyota Camry Nationwide cars have combined to win more than half of this season's races thus far – 13 of 25.

Citing a horsepower advantage, NASCAR ordered Toyota teams in the Nationwide Series to insert carburetor spacers to reduce horsepower by between 15 and 25 hp per car three weeks ago.

Because Saturday's race was the first true mid-sized or larger oval track the series has raced upon since NASCAR issued its edict, Gibbs theorized that some of his employees would try and prove NASCAR wrong, so to speak.

Even if it ultimately meant not bending, but blatantly breaking the rules.

"I know they were probably frustrated from the standpoint, wanting to show that we have less horsepower than we had before and wanted it to look like we’re handicapped more than we actually were," Gibbs said. "That is not an excuse."

Nor is Gibbs asking for sympathy. His company will take its lumps, accept the forthcoming penalties and continue forward, knowing that JGR has disappointed countless numbers of its fans – not to mention others that will look at the organization as a whole in a far different light.

"I want to apologize to NASCAR, to our partners and to Toyota," Gibbs said. "A couple of guys chose to make a decision here that really impacts all of us. To me, the frustrating part is, 'Why?' … For us in the engine shop, that’s kind of a badge of honor. You win that engine dyno – good for you."

There's no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, and on Sunday, another fallacy was disproved: that Joe Gibbs Racing is clean and would never cheat.

What can we have faith in anymore?