Logano crew chief fined; two NXS teams lose points – Nascar

Todd Gordon, crew chief for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano, has been fined $10,000 for a lug nut infraction following the completion of Sunday night’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
 
The No. 22 Team Penske group was one of several Sprint Cup Series teams to receive either penalties or warnings, according to the NASCAR penalty report issued Wednesday. Meanwhile, NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Brendan Gaughan‘s task of advancing to the title round of the series’ inaugural Chase suffered another setback with the loss of 10 championship driver and owner points for a body height violation at Texas, which the penalty report referred to as an “encumbered finish.”
 
Gaughan enters this weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway eighth in points among the eight Chase drivers still in title contention. The points loss leaves him now trailing fourth-place Blake Koch by 33 points. Only the top four advance to the Championship 4 to compete for the series title Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
Shane Wilson, crew chief of the No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was fined $10,000 for the violation.
 
Gaughan’s team wasn’t the only one to lose 10 points for a violation at Texas. The No. 88 Chevrolet fielded by JR Motorsports, and driven at Texas by Sprint Cup Series regular Kevin Harvick, was also penalized 10 championship owner points and crew chief Dave Elenz was fined $10,000. The No. 88 team is appealing its penalty today at the R&D Center.

Because the finishing positions are considered “encumbered,” they would not be factored into any potential tie-breaker scenarios.
 
No driver points were deducted because Harvick does not earn points in any series other than Sprint Cup. The No. 88 teams remains seventh in the owner points standings.
 
For Logano, his No. 22 Ford was found to have only 19 of 20 lug nuts secured following his runner-up finish to Carl Edwards (Joe Gibbs Racing) on Sunday. He is one of six drivers vying for a berth in the championship-determining Chase for the Sprint Cup.
 
Edwards and six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) have already secured berths in the Nov. 20 finale.
 
Gordon is the fourth crew chief to be fined $10,000 for a lug nut violation, joining Greg Ives (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88), Drew Blickensderfer (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43) and Brian Pattie (Roush Fenway Racing No. 16).
 
Previous lug nut infractions carried a heftier fine and included suspension before NASCAR officials adjusted the penalty.
 
In addition to the penalty on the No. 22 team, 14 other teams received written warnings for failing laser or template inspection.
 
• Because their teams failed pre-qualifying template inspection three times, drivers Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. will lose 15 minutes of practice time this week at Phoenix International Raceway.
 
• The teams of Trevor Bayne, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Matt DiBenedetto received written warnings for failing template inspection twice during the pre-qualifying inspection process. Bayne and Hamlin served penalties at Texas for having four written warnings.
 
• Failing the laser inspection three times in pre-qualifying inspection will cost driver AJ Allmendinger 15 minutes of practice at Phoenix as well.
 
• Written warnings, with no loss of practice time, were given to the teams of Austin Dillon (LIS, pre-race and pre-qualifying), Greg Biffle (LIS, pre-qualifying) and David Ragan (LIS, pre-race).
 
• Additional XFINITY Series penalties from Texas were a $5,000 fine for crew chief Kevin Meendering (JR Motorsports) for a lug nut violation; and a 15-minute loss of practice time for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing entry at Phoenix. Kyle Busch is scheduled to compete for the team this weekend.
 
Four other teams received written warnings for inspection issues with no loss of practice time.