NASCAR Issues Multiple Penalties For Apparent Manipulation At Martinsville
NASCAR Issues Multiple Penalties For Apparent Manipulation At Martinsville
NASCAR issued penalties to Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing, and Richard Childress Racing following the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
NASCAR issued its penalty report following last weekend’s races at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway on Tuesday evening, and it was full of discipline for what the sanctioning body to be deemed as measures of race manipulation for three teams.
NASCAR issues suspensions, points penalties, and monetary fines to the teams of Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing, Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, and Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing.
All three drivers were issued a loss of 50 driver points and a $100,000 fine each. NASCAR also penalized each team with the loss of 50 owner points and $100,000 fines.
In addition to that, the crew chiefs also received penalties. Phil Surgen (Chastain), Justin Alexander (Dillon), and Bootie Barker (Wallace) all received one-race suspensions. Along with those crew chiefs, the spotters for all of those teams, Brandon McReynolds (Chastain), Brandon Benesch (Dillon), and Freddie Kraft (Wallace) also received suspensions, as did team executives Tony Lunders (Trackhouse), Keith Rodden (RCR), and Dave Rogers (23XI).
These penalties all stem from the closing laps of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. In regards to Bubba Wallace, he slowed in the losing claps to allegedly let fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell gain the one position he needed to tie William Byron and advance into the final round. Wallace claimed to allegedly have a tire going down while he slowed.
Meanwhile, Chastain and Dillon, instead of trying to pass Byron and gain positions for themselves, visibly created a blockade behind Byron’s No. 24 car to prevent anyone else from passing Byron, which helped their fellow Chevrolet driver maintain an advantage over Bell.
All of these penalties are in addition to the penalty that Bell received on Sunday night following the conclusion of the race for a safety violation. Bell received the safety violation penalty following an apparent “wall ride” move in the final corners of Sunday’s race. That penalty moved Bell out of the tie with Byron, allowing Byron to advance to the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway.
As of Tuesday night, all teams involved said that they plan to appeal the penalties. NASCAR has said that they will expedite the appeals process so that the appeals will be heard before this weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.