Another week, another round of penalties for Hendrick Motorsports.
NASCAR announced L1-level penalties on Thursday to the Nos. 24 and 48 Hendrick Motorsports teams in the Cup Series after last weekend’s races at Richmond Raceway.
The infractions involve the No. 24 and 48 cars, which were taken after the race for further inspection to NASCAR’s R&D Center in North Carolina as part of the usual post-race inspection process.
NASCAR penalized William Byron (No. 24) and Alex Bowman (No. 48) who each lost 60 driver points and five playoff points. The teams also lost 60 owner points and five playoff owner points. In addition, the team’s respective crew chiefs (Brian Campe and Greg Ives) were fined $75,000 and suspended for two points events starting April 13.
The section NASCAR referenced in the Rule Book was 14.1.D Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules and 14.1.2.B Engineering Change Log. A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed that the penalty was for a modification to the greenhouse area on each car.
The penalties are the second for the teams who were also penalized after the March race in Phoenix after NASCAR found the hood louvers on the team’s 4 cars were illegal. They allowed the team to change them prior to the race, which was won by Byron. NASCAR then took the louvers back to the R&D Center. Later in the week they penalized all four Cup Series teams, along with the No. 31 team of Kaulig Racing, with L2-level penalties. Each crew chief was fined $100,000 and suspended for four races, and three of the Hendrick teams were further penalized with the loss of 100 driver points and 10 playoff points.
Hendrick appealed that ruling and on March 29th won a partial appeal. The appeal panel’s decision upheld the fines of $100,000, as well as the four-race suspensions handed down to the four crew chiefs. However, each team was restored 100 owners points and 10 playoff points. Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman receive the same points back from the initial reduction.
Kaulig Racing also appealed with nearly the same relief; however the team was restored 24 driver and owner regular season points bringing the total loss down to 75 points.
Hendrick driver Kyle Larson won the Richmond race; Bowman was 8th, and Byron finished 24th.
Prior to the latest penalties, Bowman led the Cup Series standings while Byron was in fourth place, 35 points behind but with two race wins to his credit this season.
As for if Hendrick Motorsports plans to appeal these latest penalties, the team released a statement shortly after the announcement:
“We are reviewing the penalties issued today by NASCAR and will determine next steps following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.”
In the Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR levied L1-level penalties against the Nos. 4 and 51 teams of Chase Purdy and Jack Wood for Kyle Busch Motorsports and the No. 2 team of Nick Sanchez for Rev Racing for unapproved engine oil reserve tanks found in opening day inspection at Texas Motor Speedway. Each team will incur a loss of 10 driver points and 10 owner points.
In addition, NASCAR suspended Jeff Shoaf and Ronnell Wilson indefinitely for behavioral violations. Jordan Anderson Racing listed Shoaf as a tire carrier on the No. 31 team’s roster for the Richmond Xfinity Series race, while the No. 20 team of Joe Gibbs Racing had Wilson on its roster as a fueler for the same race.
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.
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