Chase Elliott Sweeps the Snowball Derby!.....Wait Breaking news Elliott DQ'd

Chase Elliott won the Snowflake portion of the Snowball Derby and then the Snowball portion of the derby also but was DQ'd Sunday for having Tungsten in the car. We will have more on this story Monday on STARS Radio.

updated by @stars-radio: 12/16/16 07:54:33AM

funny how this was overlooked,a piece this small cost Chase so much. Wonder how this will eventually end up

After the D/Q and now Erik Jones is officially the winner of the 46th Annual Snowball Derby Grant Enfinger is officially the second place finisher. He commented on the way he inherited the second place finish. "I don't believe that is what won those guys the race, but rules are rules," Enfinger said. "Our guys did a great job all weekend and we had a good car." The tech line has come full circle for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Initially flagged the winner in 2008, Brian Ickler and his KBM ride were DQed in tech. Five years later, they get one back in the tech shed.

I'll also cover this Tuesday Night on 'Racing Through History', or the "Goat Rodeo". When I posted my topic on here about his sweep, that was before this was decided.

A basis on Tungsten - is similar to lead, but is 1.7 times more dense. Basically Chase's car weighed the same as others, but used less weight blocks. Most teams use 20 pound blocks of lead. The blocks used on Elliott's car was 36 lbs per block. Basically, they used less blocks to compensate the same weight as other competitors. The only reason that Tungsten is outlawed at the Snowball Derby is that it cost nearly 10 times more than lead. Track officials want to keep cost down for small teams. That makes sense, but weight is weight no matter what it's weighed down with. Rules are rules though. I'm still very upset with this decision. It was also brought to my attention that the 51 Team (Erik Jones, last year's winner and originally runner up for this year) told tech officials of this infraction.

But now the bottom line is, that weight did NOT win the race for him,Chase drove the car,the car was prepped for him and he drove it out front all day.. Only to have the glory snatched away after the fact.

Heck of a way to go home ------------------------------------------------- memories

That's right Johnny. I have been keeping up with live updates from 5 Flags and most competitors do NOT think that Tungsten gave him the win; it was his driving. Especially after setting the all-time track record in qualifying. The only good side to this is that his team really didn'tcheat.It's not like his car was 100 pounds lighter that the others. I can say that he was DQ'ed for an unapproved weight. It's not like Junior Johnson and Waltrip having a lighter car and leaving a lead helmet in the car through tech, loading frame rails with BB's, etc.

He did cheat. Tungsten is against the rules because it is too expensive for some competitors to compete against. The increased density allows competitors to be more exacting in where to place the weight, which gives them an advantage. His crew may have given him an excellent car and he may have driven his heart out, but if he was that good he wouldn't have had to cheat.I've said this before. Cheating is not allowed in any other sport. If you want people to think of the sport as more than wrestling for rednecks and want the drivers to be considered athletes, there can be no cheating. Cheating race teams get off easy. They don't get suspended or banned from the sport. They aren't excluded from the Hall Of Fame. In many cases, they get to keep their victories.What sanctioning bodies need to do is to define the penalty more clearly. To keep a win in one series and lose it in another sends a confusing message to people trying to become interested in the sport. If Carl Long's operation can be crippled by one fine then a similarly painful fine must be applied to Hendrick or Roush. In particular, the rulebook for NASCAR's top series needs to explicitly spell out what is allowed and what is not. Enough of this "actions detrimental to stock car racing" stuff. If there's no rule against it, it's not prohibited, but the sanctioning body is free to add a new rule right after the race.

Mr. DeNardi, racing is all about competitive intellect, commonly referred to as 'cheating'. The most prolific winners are the most competent cheaters. They scrutinize EVERY detail and apply their intellect.

As a former contributor to 'updates' to the 'Cup' rulebook, Ifeel comfortable saying that"explicitly spelling out what is allowed and what is not" would take an additional tractor trailer to just haul around the rulebook, and a group of inspectors that would take an additional two hours to get thru inspection.

When Bill Gazaway and I had a conversation inTexas many years ago, I was seeking permission to 'update' some suspension designs that made sense from not only a safety, handling but an expense standpoint, he told me to look out the window at the suspension area where inspectors were going over a car attempting to qualify.

His comment was that if we keep changing the rules and making updates, he would have to be continually training his inspectors and expect them to keep getting smarter and smarter to keep up with the rule changes. The full compliment of inspectors did not travel to all the races. There was a core group of inspectors the travelled, but most were more local 'talent', further making CONSISTANT inspections more time consuming and difficult to standardize.

Your comment that "Cheating is not allowed in any other sport", I am assuming was made in jest.Cheating, by it's very definition is not 'allowed' any where, butsuccessful competitors in every arena are successful because they have mastered the 'art' of cheating.

If you are going to swim in deep water, life vests and shark repellant will only slow you down!

BTW, carrying lead in the drivers helmet was not originated by Jr. Johnson. You also have to modify the chin strap attachment points, and if you miss putting it in the car before taking it thru inspection, you need to take it to the car wearing a long sleeve shirt, so they can't see your forearms.(at least that's what I have been told)

well spoken Will. great points.....its a very competitive sport and whats wrong with a bit of intellectual modifying....Just my humble opinion but as long as the car was within weight requirments and weights were allowed.......

I think what you are referring to is commonly called the grey area by some of the best past and present. Take Chad whats his name,yeah the one who bends the book to his side or go back to Smokey with the cigar and hat, look what he did and it wasnt illegal technically but he was way out in the grey area and Robin Pemberton or what ever his name is decided to jump shop and try to corral these guys . this is an ongoing subject .. The trick is dont get your hand caught in the cookie jar --right Tim !!