Is NASCAR's focus on rules undermining innovation?

	NASCAR's efforts at enforcing the Car of Tomorrow standards has blunted the impact a driver's team can have on a race. AP

The long-term premise of the Car Of Tomorrow is simple: Create the same type of vehicle for each team to use, and everyone will start with the same opportunity to succeed on the racetrack. NASCAR's goal is to put the race back in the hands of the driver, not the team that has the most money or the manufacturer that can build the best car.

In theory, it's a great idea. There's just one problem -- it's not just the drivers that make up the sport of stock car racing. As we've seen over the past month, the crews make just as much of an impact on the final results sheet, and no matter how many rules NASCAR puts in place, they're never going to stop pushing that competitive edge.

But this week we have been reminded just how much NASCAR wants to limit that envelope.

On Tuesday, NASCAR docked Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon 100 driver points each and suspended their crew chiefs, Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte, respectively, for six races after both drivers failed their pre-race car inspections last Friday at Sonoma. Officials discovered that the right front fenders of both vehicles were outside the Car of Tomorrow specifications. With the sheet metal spread out beyond the wheel in order to create an aerodynamic advantage, Hendrick Motorsports thought they were improving parts and pieces they felt they could have touched within the rules.

Apparently, NASCAR doesn't feel the same way. By penalizing Hendrick, it did what it felt was right under the rulebook. And in a sport where giving a slap on the wrist has been a hallmark of how rules violations have been handled in the past, NASCAR seems intent on demonstrating the old way of doing things are just that. Teams that play outside the lines are going to be hit and hit hard.

But such penalties prove bittersweet in a sport where cheating is not always black and white. It's a fine line to walk; the tougher these penalties get, the more steps NASCAR takes toward putting crew chiefs, teams and manufacturers in a small enough box where it's getting next to impossible to use creativity to their advantage.

Looking back on history, it's the innovations of these individual manufacturers and teams that have shined in several milestone victories, just as much as the drivers who wheel the cars.