A crew member considered taking off running with the illegal parts
“Hold on stop. Take those wing mounts off.”
Cheating in NASCAR isn’t uncommon, especially in the days before laser scanners. If you weren’t cheating, you weren’t even trying.
Dale Earnhardt Jr isn’t shy to share those stories. Since his retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series in 2016, he’s opened up about many stories of ingenuity in the sport.
Back in the COT era, the No. 8 team attempted to clear tech with illegal wing mounts. And after NASCAR caught them and removed the parts from the car, a crew member almost grabbed them and ran off…
Dale Earnhardt Jr comments on using an illegal wing mount
“We got busted because we went to Darlington, the COT had just come out and Tony Jr had figured out something,” Dale Earnhardt Jr stated.
Tony Gibson added, “We made wing mounts. We found out that the distance between the wing and the decklid was where the downforce came from.”
“And the only way to really tell was if you measured between the decklid and the wing. So, we’re pushing through tech and we had already made it out of the tech line, pushing it up the hill.”
“And, here comes officials. ‘Hold on stop.’ They’re like, ‘Take those wing mounts off.’ “
“I looked at two beer and I said, ‘Two beer, they got us.’ They got them wing mounts that they just took off our car, laying that table.”
“Two beer looks at me and goes, ‘Old man, ‘I’m going to grab those wing mounts right there and I’m going to take off running.’ He says, ‘If they can’t find them, they can’t throw us out.’ “
“I said, ‘Two beer, they already know.’ He’s like, ‘I’m getting ready to grab them and I’m going to take off running. I’ll be out of this place in no time.’ “
“I said, ‘Two beer, they’ll have dogs and helicopters after you here in about 15 seconds.’ I said, ‘It’s over!’ “
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Tony Gibson on the wing mounts
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