No. 22 team penalized following Richmond win – Nascar

NASCAR on Thursday issued an L1-level penalty to Team Penske’s No. 22 team for a rear suspension violation discovered during teardown at the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. The penalty carries multiple consequences, which includes making Joey Logano’s win at Richmond on Sunday encumbered.
 
The encumbered win is the first for a victorious Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team since NASCAR adopted that policy in 2016. What that means is Logano cannot use the Richmond win as consideration for an automatic playoff spot. Should Logano still make the postseason, the five playoff points that come with a victory would not apply for Richmond. The official race record will still list Logano as the winner.
 
Additional penalties are a $50,000 fine and two-race suspension for crew chief Todd Gordon, and the loss of 25 driver points and 25 owner points.
 
The violation was under Section 20 of the NASCAR Rule Book. According to the penalty grid NASCAR issued, the No. 22 team did not adhere to the following: the Truck trailing arm spacer/pinion angle shim mating surfaces must be planar and must be in complete contact with corresponding mating surfaces at all points and at all times.
 
There was no immediate announcement from Team Penske on if the team would appeal the penalty.
 
Other penalties issued Thursday include:
 
• The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was missing one lug nut in a post-race check Sunday at Richmond International Raceway. Crew chief Mike Wheeler was handed a $10,000 fine after one lug nut was found to be improperly secured. The infraction was noted after driver Denny Hamlin recorded a season-best third-place finish in the Toyota Owners 400.

• Three teams in the NASCAR XFINITY Series also drew penalties for lug-nut infractions, the most severe of which was issued to the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet, driven to a third-place finish from the pole at Richmond by rookie Daniel Hemric. The car was found with two unsecured lug nuts, resulting in a $10,000 fine and a one-race suspension for crew chief Danny Stockman Jr.
 
Two other teams were dealt $5,000 crew chief fines for one unsecured lug nut each: the No. 3 driven by Ty Dillon (crew chief: Matt Swiderski) and the No. 46 driven by Quin Houff (crew chief: Mark Setzer).
 
The guidelines for post-race lug-nut violations are a part of the sport’s deterrence system, updated by competition officials in the offseason for the 2017 NASCAR Rule Book.