Catchfence

Harrisburg, N.C. (September 21, 2010) – Whitney Motorsports team owner Dusty Whitney’s response to penalties levied against the team following post-race inspection of the No. 46 Dodge after the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

“I stand by NASCAR’s decision in that they give us a box to work within and as competitors we are all expected to work within that box. However, I am extremely disappointed in that as a small team we outsource our engine building and we entrust our engine builder to ensure we meet the NASCAR parameters and engine requirements. By entrusting a third party that did not perform to NASCAR’s standards our team is not only suffering a hefty financial penalty but we are also losing a valuable member of our team for six races along with a substantial loss of owner and driver points. We expect all of our vendors and outsourced suppliers to perform within the guidelines established by Whitney Motorsports and NASCAR and it is extremely unfortunate and costly when they do not.”

When NASCAR discovered the valves in the engine of the No. 46 Dodge to be below the mandated weight, Whitney Motorsports was penalized $50,000, driver Michael McDowell was penalized 50 driver points and owner Dusty Whitney was penalized 50 owner points. Crew chief Jeremy LaFaver has also been suspended from NASCAR competition for six weeks. That engine was acquired from Gillette-Evernham Motorsports and has since been rebuilt and updated by Arrington Engines.

- Linkous Enterprises, Inc., for Whitney Motorsports, Press Release