AUTO RACING
NASCAR issued its second massive penalty in as many days by levying huge fines Wednesday against Stewart-Haas Racing for an alleged “counterfeit part” found on Chase Briscoe’s car in a secondary inspection after the Coca-Cola 600.
SHR’s No. 14 team was docked 120 points in both the owner standings and Briscoe’s driver standings, and he was stripped of 25 playoff points. John
Klausmeier, the crew chief, was suspended six races and fined $250,000.
“We would much rather be talking about the phenomenal racing we just had at Charlotte Motor Speedway than penalties,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “We are the custodians of the garage.”
The penalties are the harshest NASCAR can impose under its written deterrence system. It comes a day after superstar Chase Elliott was suspended one race for deliberately wrecking Denny Hamlin on Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The penalties against SHR fall under rules that prohibit counterfeiting a Next Gen single source vendor-supplied part. SHR is accused of using an illegal part to try to create more downforce on Briscoe’s Ford.
FAN’S CAR REPLACED: Robin Matthews, whose car was damaged at the Indianapolis 500 after a crash sent a tire spinning over the grandstands, will get a new vehicle.
According to an Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesperson, Penske Entertainment will provide Matthews with a new car. The incident occurred with less than 20 laps to go in Sunday’s race when
Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood collided and Kirkwood’s rear left tire bounced off the track and flew over the crowd in Turn 2.