From Jayski.com:

Crewman suspended for rest of race for going after tire: Jimmy Watts, a crew member [gasman] for the #47 Marcos Ambrose team, was suspended for the remainder of the race after he ran onto the infield grass -- a prohibited area -- to retrieve a loose tire on [caused] the third caution of the race.(ESPN/AP), the caution would had been called anyway, due to the tire in the infield and it was still slowly moving towards the track.


AND A quiet and remorseful Jimmy Watts stood outside the NASCAR hauler during the Kobalt Tools 500 to meet with NASCAR officials after he had been suspended for the remainder of the event for running onto the frontstretch grass with the race under green-flag conditions to retrieve a tire from the JTG Daugherty Racing car on lap 67. Watts, a gas man who also works for the Charlotte Fire Department, said he has been in the sport for more than seven years and just made a mistake. NASCAR threw the caution as he chased the tire. The tire had rolled on to the frontstretch grass when it got loose from the JTG Daugherty team of driver Marcos Ambrose and was knocked away by the Yates Racing team. I saw the tire going away and it was a reaction the wrong one, Watts said. Watts said he certainly did not think that the tire would roll that far across the grass and by the time he was in the middle of it, he realized he was in a bad position. Watts said he hoped to be back next week but was waiting to talk to NASCAR officials to see if any additional penalties would be issued.(SceneDaily)(3-9-2009)

-- Edited by openwheelracer at 19:09, 2009-03-10