Logano, Penske handed penalties for Richmond

Driver cannot use victory as automatic playoff spot

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR has penalized Joey Logano four days after his win at Richmond International Raceway, essentially stripping him of all benefits that came with the Monster Cup Series victory.

The sanctioning body issued Logano and Team Penske a L1 penalty on Thursday for a rear suspension violation. The infraction was discovered during teardown at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C.

Logano cannot use the Richmond win as consideration for an automatic playoff spot. Should Logano still make the postseason, the five playoff points that come with a victory would not count. The official race record will still list Logano as the winner.

The No. 22 team also was fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver points and 25 owner points. Crew chief Todd Gordon was suspended two races.

Team Penske said it was disappointed by the decision, but no appeal was planned. Miles Stanley will serve as Logano’s crew chief this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, with Greg Erwin helping with race strategy.

Separately, Team Penske is appealing a three-race suspension on the crew chief for teammate Brad Keselowski.

Other penalties issued Thursday:

Denny Hamlin’s car, ■ the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing entry, was missing a lug nut during post-race inspection at Richmond. Crew chief Mike Wheeler was fined $10,000 for the infraction.

Three teams in the NASCAR ■ Xfinity Series also drew penalties for lug-nut infractions. The most severe was issued to the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet driven by rookie Daniel Hemric. The car was found with two unsecured lug nuts, resulting in a $10,000 fine and a one-race suspension for crew chief Danny Stockman Jr.