NASCAR comes down hard on No 20 Joe Gibbs team after engine fails inspection

KANSAS CITY, KS - APRIL 21: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 The Home Depot/Husky Toyota, races Landon Cassill, driver of the #33 KCI Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS - APRIL 21:  Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 The Home Depot/Husky Toyota, races Landon Cassill, driver of the #33 KCI Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas.  (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – APRIL 21: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 The Home Depot/Husky Toyota, races Landon Cassill, driver of the #33 KCI Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series STP 400 at Kansas Speedway on April 21, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

NASCAR brought a heavy and swift hammer down on the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Wednesday after the car’s engine failed post-race inspection at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center.

The engine is out of the winning car from last week’s race at Kansas won by driver Matt Kenseth. The engine from the winning car along with others chosen at random is routinely taken back to the R&D Center. NASCAR found the engine from the No. 20 Toyota had a connecting rod failed to meet the minimum connecting rod weight.

While Kenseth and the team will keep the win, there will be no bonus points awarded when the Chase for the Sprint Cup is seeded in September. This is the first such penalty since the Chase was enacted in 2004. The team has also had its owner’s license suspended for six races meaning there will be no owner points awarded for those races. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.