Richard Childress expects team to cleared of doctoring tires

The car owner will appeal NASCAR’s decision to heavily penalize Ryan Newman’s No. 31 team.

Richard Childress denied his team tampered with tires and expects to be exonerated in an appeal hearing next week, he said in a statement Thursday.

NASCAR confiscated tires off Ryan Newman's No. 31 car following the March 22 race at Auto Club Speedway and determined the team devised way to illegally bleed air pressure. In penalties issued last week Newman was docked 75 points -- the equivalent of nearly two full races -- and crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $125,000 and suspended six races. Two other crewmembers were also suspended six races.

In addition to Newman, three other drivers had their tires seized by officials and sent to a third-party for extensive testing. Newman's tires were the only set found in violation.

A three-member appellant board will hear Childress' appeal April 16.

"We feel confident we have a very compelling case to present to the appeals panel," Childress said. "We strongly believe in the intent of the rules and the integrity of our own teams while following those same rules."

Rumors of teams doctoring tires began circling in the Sprint Cup Series garage since the end of last season. The practice is undertaken by drilling small holes in the tires to slowly relive air pressure during a long run. Doing so allows a driver to maintain higher speeds and their car to handle better.

The week following the ACS race, Newman was asked about his tires being confiscated. He stated he "wasn't worried about anything," believing his team would be cleared of any malefaction. Four days later NASCAR handed down the sanctions, some of the largest in the sport's history.

"NASCAR takes very seriously its responsibility to govern and regulate the rules of the sport in order to ensure competitive balance," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, when issuing the penalties. "We've been very clear that any modifications to race vehicle tires is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated."

The 75-point reduction dropped Newman from sixth in the standings to 27th overall.

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