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.
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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