Yahoo Autos The 7 Times a NASCAR Cup Series Race Winner Was Disqualified
It may surprise some to learn that the flagged winner of NASCAR’s first Cup Series race in 1949—called Strictly Stock back then—was disqualified for cheating.
It seems car owner Hubert Westmoreland used “altered rear springs” on the 1947 Ford that Glenn Dunaway drove to an apparent three-lap victory.
It was on a Sunday afternoon, June 19 at the ¾-mile dirt Charlotte Speedway. With between 13,000 and 22,500 watching—seldom believe attendance figures—Dunaway led the final 49 laps of the 200-lap, 150-miler. He easily beat Jim Roper, who had driven his 1947 Lincoln from Kansas for the historic event.
But Dunaway was busted when tech inspectors found the car had illegal leaf springs, not “strictly stock.” Although completing only 197 of the 200 laps, Roper was declared the winner. It was explained that Westmoreland’s car was sometimes used for bootlegging, and “spring spreading” improved rear-end stability when cars hauled moonshine.
It's unclear whether he simply forgot about the springs or perhaps figured he’d outsmart the inspectors since it was their first race. Predictably, he sued NASCAR for $10,000, five times what he would have earned by getting the victory. Just as predictably, a Greensboro judge dismissed the case, leaving Westmoreland more frustrated than ever.
The recent disqualification of F1 driver George Russell in Belgium centered on his Mercedes Silver Arrows being 1.5 kilograms light—that’s about 3.3 pounds—after his apparent victory. In their ruling F1 officials said: “Stewards determine that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations has been breached and therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement needs to be applied.”
Which, of course, was disqualification. Russell’s misfortune handed the victory to teammate Lewis Hamilton, whose Mercedes passed all scrutineering. What would have been Russel’s third career victory turned into Hamilton’s 105th.
Russell was the sixth F-1 driver disqualified after an apparent victory. The others:
• James Hunt in the 1976 British GP for using an unauthorized service road to return to the track after an incident; Nelson Piquet in the 1982 Brazilian GP for being underweight; Alain Prost in 1985 at San Mario for being underweight; Ayrton Senna in Japan in 1989 for improper assistance from marshals after an incident; and Michael Schumacher in the 1994 Belgian GP because of worn brake skids.
Other than Dunaway in 1949, only seven NASCAR Cup Series winners have been disqualified in its 2,753-race history. Most were for engine-related violations, from tricked-up carburetors to illegal pistons and push rods. An oversized fuel cell caused one DQ. And seemingly minor aerodynamic violations brought the most recent, a rare double-DQ.
Recap of Disqualified Winners
• Tim Flock was caught with an illegal carburetor after a 1954 race on the Daytona Beach highway/beach course. Lee Petty was listed as the official winner.
• A year later, Fireball Roberts was disqualified for an oversized engine on the same highway/beach course. This time, Flock was declared the winner.
• Jim Reed was disqualified for using an illegal engine in a 1955 race at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway. That DQ gave Flock another victory.
• Later that year, apparent winner Joe Weatherly and runner-up Reed were disqualified for illegal engines at Palm Beach (Fla.) Speedway. That double-DQ gave the victory to Herb Thomas.
• In 1956, back at Palm Beach Speedway, apparent winner Al Keller was disqualified for having an illegal engine. Billy Myers was elevated to the top spot.
• Emanuel Zervakis lost a 1960 victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway for having an oversized fuel cell. With that DQ, fellow Virginia driver Joe Weatherly inherited the victory.
• It would be 62 years before another apparent winner was taken down. In 2022, sharp-eyed inspectors found illegal aerodynamic advantages on the front wrapping of Denny Hamlin’s car at Pocono Raceway. Teammate Kyle Busch, who would have inherited the victory, was disqualified for the same violation. Third-finishing Chase Elliott was back home in Georgia when informed he was the rightful winner.
Dozens of drivers and crew chiefs have been disqualified, suspended, or penalized before or after races they didn’t win. A partial list produces a veritable who’s who in NASCAR: Richard Petty, Lee Petty, Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, Kevin Harvick, Junior Johnson, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Bush, Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Ricky Stenhouse.
NASCAR’s pre- and post-race inspection procedures have been modernized and elevated as laser-based technology has offered more tools. Elton Sawyer, Senior Vice-President of Competition (and a former Xfinity and Cup Series drivers) says “technology has changed the game as it pertains to inspections.”
“We use the OSS (Optical Scanning System) and the UBS (Underbody Scanning System) to inspect the aerodynamics of the cars (before and after each race),” he said. “As for weight: after a vehicle has raced, the minimum weight must be within 0.5 percent of the minimum weight at the start of the race. For example: a 3,400-pound car during pre-race tech would be legal at 3,383 pounds afterward.”
NASCAR’s pre-race inspection process incudes five “stations.” During their four- to five-hour exam, cars are elevated so inspectors can check all aspects of the underbody; several laser-generated template ensure body dimensions are correct; OSS cameras and monitors certify the chassis and body in exacting detail; finally, inspectors check interior and exterior safety components.
Post-race tech takes in the top five cars. They are weighed, measured, and go through OSS and UBS scrutiny again. The flagged winner and runner-up, plus a random car are pulled aside for even greater scrutiny at the track. Inspectors offer a larger “tolerance window” to allow for the oft-times physical, contact-to-contact nature of stock car racing.
Above all else, NASCAR wants a technical “level playing field” and for its winner to be certified on-site the evening of the race. That’s always been the case in NASCAR’s “modern era,” dating from the early 1970s.
“The (technical) box that teams work in today is so much smaller than it used to be,” says Eddie Wood, part of the legendary Wood Brothers Racing Team. “There used to be more room for doing stuff – a bigger box – than now. But the box has gotten smaller and smaller, so you can’t do what you used to do. You can’t push (the tech rules) like before.
“The other things is, everything is so transparent. Everybody has access to the same information; everybody is watching everybody else; there aren’t many secrets. And, too, the penalties are so big you just can’t afford to do anything.
“Yeah, those guys get it right because they have to get it right.”
