Don Schumacher Racing announced Wednesday that Top Fuel crew chief Mike Green will pay the $5,000 fine the National Hot Rod Association issued to him Tuesday night.
The NHRA fined the U.S. Army Dragster tuner for making a derogatory comment to an NHRA official during last weekend’s O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway near Houston.
Don Schumacher Racing will not appeal the fine and said in its statement that it “will not provide any further comment on the matter.”
The punishment was the first involving a sanctioning-body official since John Force was given a $10,000 fine in September 2009. In that case, Force bumped official Kurt Johnson during an altercation with fellow Funny Car driver Tony Pedregon at Indianapolis.
It brings the total amount of fines levied against DSR since 2006 to $135,000.
In 2006, DSR paid $20,000 because Tony Schumacher’s Army team (under Alan Johnson’s guidance at the time) disobeyed the starter’s orders to shut the car off before a qualifying run in the final race of the season at Pomona. Before that, Ron Capps was counterpunched with a $10,000 fine after hitting teammate Whit Bazemore.
In April 2008, Don Schumacher paid a $100,000 fine for using nitromethane from an unauthorized source.
The NHRA on Tuesday cited Green for violation of participant-conduct rule 1.3.1, found on page four of the 2012 NHRA Rulebook. Green had to pay the fine in full before he would be allowed to participate at any future NHRA events.
The sanctioning body allowed DSR and/or Green to appeal the fine (according to section 1, pages 18-25 of the 2012 NHRA Rulebook). Green will be working in his regular capacity this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway at Commerce, Ga.
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