The No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Bubba Wallace and the No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford driven by Corey LaJoie had to drop to the rear before the start of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Sunday morning during pre-race inspection, both cars were found to have for improperly mounted ballast. The teams were issued a 10-point penalty in the driver and owner standings and crew chiefs Jerry Baxter (Wallace) and Ryan Sparks (LaJoie) were suspended prior to the race.
Based on the random draw for the lineup, Wallace was slated to start 15th, while LaJoie was going to roll of the grid in the 33rd-starting spot. Wallace entered the weekend 20th in the driver point standings, while LaJoie was 29th.
Wallace finished 23rd, LaJoie, 35th, 39 laps down.
“All in all, a minor setback to start the race, so we’ve got some clawing to do,” Wallace said. “We’ve got six races left to get a shot at the Playoffs, so we’ve got to get our Mojo back. It seems like we’ve been searching for it for the last couple of weeks and we’ll keep after it. So, on to Michigan.”
Further penalties may be coming this week.