DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Junior Johnson, one of the most successful car owners in Winston Cup history, was caught in a rules violation yesterday and fined a record $45,000.
Crew chief Mike Beam also was fined $100 and placed on indefinite probation. According to Section 12, Rule 4 of the NASCAR Winston Cup Rule Book, as well as the 1995 Daytona 500 entry blank, any internal modification to a car's engine must be visibly welded in place. Yesterday, during the car inspection that precedes qualifying attempts for the Daytona 500 pole, the "insert portion" of the intake manifold was found not to be welded on the Johnson Ford.
"Being loose, it would have allowed more air to reach the engine and thereby created more speed," said NASCAR spokesman Kevin Triplett.
The car, driven by Brett Bodine, was not allowed to qualify yesterday. Bodine will be allowed to take part in second-day qualifying tomorrow, to determine a starting position in Thursday's 125-mile twin qualifying races.
No one from the team was available for comment. The fines are appealable. The previous top fine in Winston Cup racing was levied in 1983 against seven-time champion Richard Petty, who was tapped for $38,000 for an oversized engine.