JR Motorsports confirmed Monday that they will appeal the penalty assessed against Noah Gragson and the No. 9 team after Saturday’s Xfinity Series Steakhouse Elite 200 race at Darlington Raceway.
During the post-race inspection of the No. 9 Chevrolet, it was determined that the team had violated Rule 20.14.c in the NASCAR Rule Book.
The rule states that “all suspension mounts and mounting hardware must not allow movement or realignment of any suspension and/or drivetrain component beyond normal rotation or suspension and/or drivetrain travel.”
Gragson was originally scored in fourth at the end of the race but after the penalty, he was relegated to a 40th place finish and stripped of the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus for being the highest-finishing eligible driver.
If the penalty is upheld, Gragson, who has already won two of the four events in the program, will not be able to compete for the prize at Dover International Speedway this weekend.
A race that had a difficult start but concluded with a strong comeback concluded with a disappointing outcome for Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team following the Hooter’s 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It started even before the drop of the green flag when a piece of ballast came off of Briscoe’s car and was situated on the track during the pace laps. Briscoe was then directed by NASCAR to pit as his crew went to work to replace the missing ballast from his car. By the time Briscoe returned to the track while serving a pass-through penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall, he was six laps behind the field. From there, Briscoe spent the entire race making up the laps he lost from the leaders.
When the first stage concluded, he was three laps behind. By the time the second stage concluded, he was one lap behind. When the caution flew with seven laps remaining following a single-car wreck, Briscoe took the wave around to return to the lead lap and was then able to race from 11th to seventh when the checkered flag flew. Briscoe’s seventh-place result was his seventh top-10 finish of this season.
“It was definitely a frustrating day, but we can’t hang our heads,” Briscoe said. “We had another really good, fast race car and we just made a silly mistake this week and forgot something. Last week, I made a silly mistake on pit road, so it all evens out. The positive is that we had a really fast race car. In fact, I felt like we were the fastest car by quite a bit. The good thing is we get another chance at it tomorrow and hopefully, we can put it all together and not make any mistakes and get another win.”
Following the race, however, Briscoe’s team was hit with a major penalty as a result of the ballast that separated from his car prior to the race. As a result of violating rule 12.5.2.7.4.d. from the NASCAR RuleBook, crew chief Richard Boswell, car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer D.J. Vanderley have been suspended for the next four series races, beginning with the second Homestead race on June 14. Briscoe’s post-race penalty does not come with any fine nor points implications as he is second in the standings, trailing points leader Noah Gragson by 18 points.
This marks the second time this season where a team was hit with a safety violation as a result of ballast loss from a car. In May, Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was also penalized for a loss of ballast prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a penalty that resulted in Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart, car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons being suspended for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series races.
A major penalty was assessed to Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry driven by Denny Hamlin at the conclusion of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
According to the NASCAR Rule Book, Hamlin’s No. 11 team was found to have violated Safety Section 12.5.2.7.4.d Minimum Safety Penalty Options that referred to the loss/separation of added ballast from a racing vehicle during a race, qualifying or practice session.
As a result, Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart, car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons have been suspended for the next four NASCAR Cup Series races through June 10. With Joe Gibbs Racing opting to not appeal the penalty, race engineer Sam McAulay will serve as Hamlin’s interim crew chief, beginning on May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In addition, veteran Eric Phillips will serve as Hamlin’s car chief while Scott Eldridge will join the team as a mechanic. The penalty came with no points loss for Hamlin and he is still in eighth in the Cup Series regular-season standings, 81 points behind leader Kevin Harvick, with two wins in 2020.
During the pace laps for the 600-mile event, a chunk of ballast (tungsten weight) slipped off the side rails of Hamlin’s car following a puff of smoke and came to rest near the exit of pit road on the racing surface. Hamlin was slated to start the main event in 13th, but he surrendered his starting spot to nurse his car to pit road and have his crew replace the component. He was unable to start the race with the rest of the field on the lead lap. By the time Hamlin returned on track, he was eight laps behind the leaders and fell back as far as nine laps behind. He would, ultimately, finish 29th, seven laps down.
Hamlin, along with his fellow competitors, will return on track for the next scheduled Cup Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Alsco Uniforms 500, on Wednesday, May 27, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
The No. 4 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team from Stewart-Haas Racing received an L1-level penalty for two violations found during teardown at the NASCAR R&D Center stemming from Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The team was found to have violated Sections 20.4.8.1 (dealing with rear window support) and 20.4.18 (rocker panel extensions), specifically. A brace that supports the rear window failed and did not meet specifications for keeping the rear window glass rigid in all directions, at all times. Additionally, the rocker panel extension was not aluminum.
The No. 4 team with driver Kevin Harvick won the race, but will not get the benefits of that win for the NASCAR Playoffs (a total of seven playoff points for winning the race and both stages). Harvick also won at Atlanta, which means he still is qualified for the postseason on the basis of that Atlanta win.
Additionally, crew chief Rodney Childers has been fined $50,000. Car chief Robert Smith has been suspended for the next two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. The team also was docked 20 driver points and 20 owner points.
With this specific infraction, NASCAR officials felt the best sanction for the violation was suspending the car chief, not crew chief, due to the prominent role the car chief plays in setting up the car throughout the weekend.
The No. 4 team has the right to appeal the penalties to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.
In other penalties, the No. 55 team in the Monster Energy Series received a safety violation for one lug nut that was not secure in post-race inspection. Crew chief Todd Parrott has been fined $10,000.
NASCAR announced today that the No. 41 of Ben Rhodes failed post-race tech inspection after the eighth annual NextEra Energy Resources 250.
Rhodes’s crew chief, Eddie Troconis is fined $5,000 and will not be at Atlanta this weekend due to Troconis serving his suspension this weekend. Rhodes was docked 10 points and the team was penalized 10 owner points.
Rhodes will have a different crew chief adorn the pit box this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He currently sits seventh in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings.
Seventy five point penalty and nothing. No meaningful consequences, not even a dip in the standings. When Denny Hamlin’s car got tagged for leaving the covers on the rear firewall loose in order to leak high pressure air from under the car into the cockpit, something they were told not to do going into Indianapolis, NASCAR came down hard. Well, sort of.
Darian Grubb’s wallet is $125,000 lighter and the crew chief is gone until after Richmond. The same penalty was given to car chief Wesley Sherrill. A 75 point penalty would be crippling if not for that win in Talladega and his lock inside the Top 30 in points. With standings based first on wins, and then points, Hamlin was ninth and remains ninth, if only by just a point up on Aric Almirola and still 41 ahead of Kurt Busch. For a car that was running so slow in practice Grubb said he did not have enough air time to list its ailments, its sudden emergence to finish third on Sunday was a revelation. Sometimes, NASCAR is not big on revelations, especially after mandating that the one in this case had been specifically outlawed. It is enough to make Michael Waltrip wave his finger in admonishment.
Now, I love the win and you are in format. I like that someone like Aric Almirola can make it with just one great day, or that Kurt Busch can spin silk from an otherwise crap season. Sadly, now if you win, it seems you can also sin. Take the risk, and if it goes south just make sure you can afford the cash and the downtime.
This season I have been tinkering with an alternative system that erases win and you are in by simply inflating the win bonus from three to 25 points. It pays big to take the checkered flag, but without handing one immunity. Under that system, Hamlin would have dropped from 11th to 19th and under the Chase format he would now be 31 points out of the Top 16. That would have hurt. Instead, he will get back a well rested, albeit poorer and wiser, crew chief when they hit Chicago in mid-September. Oh, the humanity.
In NASCAR, penalties are always inconsistent and there is always controversy surrounding each call. In an effort to make the process more transparent or more black and white, if you will, the powers that be have come up with a new system – the Deterrent System. Infractions are now classified on a scale from warnings to P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6. They have informally handed out warnings in the past but now, they will be tracked and made public. NASCAR reiterated that they will not, under any circumstance, take wins away. They want fans to leave the track knowing who won the race.
NASCAR also has a new Chief Appelant Officer. Bryan Moss will replace John Middlebrook and NASCAR stressed that the decision to make a change was not due to Middlebrook going against NASCAR in multiple appeals last year. Race manipulation is not included in this new system though, perhaps because it will be treated as a separate entity. Along with organizing the process more, this system slams repeat offenders. For a detailed look at the new penalty scale, click on the chart below…
Via NASCAR
NASCAR Executive VP of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell
“NASCAR’s Deterrence System is designed to help maintain the integrity and competitive balance of our sport while sending a clear message that rules violations will not be tolerated. “This is a more transparent and effective model that specifically spells out that ‘X’ infraction equals ‘X’ penalty for technical infractions. At the same time, we believe the Appeals process allows a fair opportunity for our NASCAR Members to be heard, and have penalty disputes resolved by an impartial, relevant group of people with the ability to handle the complexities inherent in any appeal.This system has been tailored specifically to fit the needs of our sport.”
The appeal process itself will continue to have two levels. The first is a three-person panel, called “The National Motorsports Appeals Panel.” The team involved then has the option to go to the Chief Appellant Officer Bryan Moss. All alterations to the penalty system will be implemented immediately.
In the past two weeks we’ve seen two big teams get hammered by NASCAR for illegal parts. The administration certainly isn’t messing around this year, if you are found in violation of their rules no matter what the circumstances surrounding it are, you will be punished harshly. I fully agree with the Penske penalties but I do not agree with how hard they came down on JGR and Matt Kenseth. If anyone should have received a larger punishment, it should be the No.2 and No.22 because they purposely tried to get a performance advantage by manipulating the rear ends of their racecars. The No.20 issue was simply a mistake on the part of TRD and there was no malicious intent whatsoever.
During pre-race inspection at Texas, officials found that Penske Racing had messed with the rear end housings of their cars attempting to get them to skew which was outlawed by NASCAR at the start of this year. Both the No.2 and the No.22 barely made it to the grid in time for the race and Brad Keselowski was very vocal following the event. He was quoted saying,
“I have one good thing to say, that’s my team and effort they put in today in fighting back with the absolute bulls— that’s been the last seven days in this garage area. The things I’ve seen over the last seven days have me questioning everything that I believe in, and I’m not happy about it. I don’t have anything positive to say and I probably should just leave it at that. There’s so much stuff going on…you have no f—— idea what’s going on, And that’s not your fault and that’s not a slam on you. I could tell you there’s nobody, no team in this garage with the integrity of the 2 team. And the way we’ve been treated over the last seven days is absolutely shameful. I feel like we’ve been targeted over the last seven days more than I’ve ever seen a team targeted. But my guys kept their heads on straight and they showcased why they are a winning team and championship team. We’re not going to take it. We’re not going to be treated this way.”
NASCAR surprisingly did not penalize Keselowski for those incensed comments but they weren’t bashful about dropping the hammer on the team for their rear end housing infraction. They suspended the crew chiefs, the car chiefs, team engineers and the team manager for six weeks. They also fined the crew chiefs $100,000, took 25 points away from Brad and Joey and placed all the team personal that they suspended on probation until December 31st, 2013. What these guys did was play in the gray area and ended up stepping on NASCAR’s toes. They aren’t bad, they aren’t cheaters, they are just doing their job. Every team from all eras has always tried to find an advantage by playing in iffy territory. It’s nothing new and every team does it, some just do it better than others. When you mess around in the danger zone, you’re eventually going to get bit and that’s what happened here. I have no remorse for them and feel the penalties are fully justified.
Photo Credit: Sal Sigala Jr./Speedway Media
When it comes to Joe Gibbs Racing and their ground shattering punishment, a large contingent of people out there including myself feel NASCAR went too far. A connecting rod was found to be approximately 2.7 grams underweight when NASCAR weighed it during the tear down of the race winning No.20 car from Kansas. The other 7 connecting rods were each a few grams to the good and perfectly legal. There are areas on a racecar that are considered sacred ground and not even the likes of Chad Knaus would dare mess with them. That’s the tires, the fueling system and the engine. As a result, NASCAR dropped the hammer hard in a penalty that ranks right up there as one of the biggest ever. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended for six races, an astonishing 50 points were taken away, Matt won’t get chase bonus points for the win and can’t use it as a WC either, the owners license of Joe Gibbs has been suspended for six weeks, the pole won’t count towards the 2014 Sprint Unlimited and Toyota loses 5 manufacturer points.
One connecting rod 2.7 grams underweight gives no advantage and in fact, it throws the engine slightly out of balance which could hurt overall performance. It was an error made by TRD when creating the parts and nothing more. NASCAR doesn’t look at it that way though and although I don’t like it, I can understand that. If they started basing penalties on the exact person who was in the wrong, it would bring in an infinite number of variables and it could get very messy. This case in particular exemplifies one that would be a black and white but a lot of them wouldn’t be. In order to maintain consistency and integrity, they have to police each case basically using tunnel vision. They can’t factor in the all the details; just simply look at it and say this piece was in violation of this rule therefore we will issue the appropriate penalties. This is when the appeal committee comes in handy though. They are separate from the NASCAR officials who initially hand out punishments and they base their decisions after hearing the team’s explanation for why they were in violation of the rules. With this particular situation, I think JGR has a good chance to reduce the penalties. It’s actually a pretty solid system that NASCAR has put in place and works very well most of the time.
I still firmly believe that TRD should have gotten more of a punishment though. Penske pushes the limits trying to gain an advantage and gets caught but their penalty is less than a team that had an issue with a manufacturer supplied part that didn’t even help performance of the car. That doesn’t make sense to me. It looks like they came down harder on JGR because they raced with the “illegal” part and won with it unlike Penske whose blunder was caught before the race even began. TRD took full blame for the error but the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the teams in the eyes of NASCAR. Matt Kenseth wasn’t pleased with how hard his team was hit and had this to say regarding the penalties:
“I think the penalties are grossly unfair. I think it’s borderline shameful. There’s no argument the part was wrong. They weighed it and it was wrong. However, there is an argument that there certainly was no performance advantage. If you can find any unbiased, reputable, knowledgeable engine-builder and if they saw the facts, what all the rods weighed. The average weight of all the rods was well above the minimum — 2.5 (grams) above the minimum at least. There was one in there that was way heavy. There was no performance advantage, there was no intent, it was a mistake. JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) had no control over it. Certainly to crush Joe Gibbs like that — to say they can’t win an owner’s championship with the 20 this year is just, I can’t wrap my arms around that, it just blows me away. And the same with Jason Ratcliff (crew chief). I don’t feel bad for myself at all, but for Jason and Joe, I just couldn’t feel any worse. There’s no more reputable, honest hard-working guys with good reputations more so than those two — I feel really bad for them.”
The Penske Racing appeal will be held May 1st at the NASCAR R&D Center and no one expects their punishment to be reduced in any way. They appealed not because they thought they could win, but because they wanted to have some time to find appropriate replacements for their soon to be sidelined seven high profile team members. JGR is also appealing the penalties issued to them and like I said before, they do have a fighting chance. The date of their appeal hasn’t been set yet but my guess would be that it would take place the week leading up to Talladega or possibly the week following it.
I’m sure all of you out there have your own sentiments regarding these highly controversial incidents so feel free to voice your opinions below!
NASCAR announced that two NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers and three crew members have been penalized as a result of rules violated at Barrie Speedway on September 10thafter racing was over.
J.R. Fitzpatrick and Kerry Micks were found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – aggressive driving and excessive speed on pit road after the race) of the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series rule book. They are both on probation for the final two races of schedule and remain on probation till September 28, 2011. Both drivers sped down pit road after an on-track altercation on the final lap where Micks spun out Fitzpatrick due to earlier contact.
Matt Vanderwal, crew chief for Don Thomson Jr. was found in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area) and 9-4 (the crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his team members). Vanderwal has been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.
Josh Turner, crew member for No. 3 of Jason Hathaway, and Chad Turner, crew member for Don Thomson Jr., were both found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area). Both have been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the track this weekend for the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
