Following a TobyChristie.com report on Tuesday, NASCAR has handed out penalties on Wenesday, to four race teams that were involved in manipulating the outcome of the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR determined that actions committed by Premium Motorsports’ No. 15 and No. 27 teams, Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 team and Rick Ware Racing’s No. 52 team were in an effort to get the No. 27 Premium Motorsports team to take home the bonus money for being the top non-chartered team in the sport.
“Following a thorough review of race data and driver/team communication from the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well as interviews with several competitors NASCAR has determined that the Nos. 15, 27, 52 and 77 teams have violated Sections 12.8.g and 12.8.1 of the NASCAR rule book, which addresses manipulating the outcome of a race,” said NASCAR’s Scott Miller. “As a result, those teams in violation of the rule book have been penalized.”
The No. 27 team has been docked 50 owner championship points, which means that Gaunt Brothers Racing’s No. 96 team officially finishes as the highest non-charter team for the 2019 season.
Jay Robinson’s No. 15 team has also been docked 50 championship points and the owner has been assessed a $50,000 fine.
Spire Motorsports has also been docked 50 points and fined $50,000 for their participation, and Rick Ware Racing’s No. 52 team has also been docked 50 points and fined $50,000.
Scott Eggleston, the competition director for both Spire Motorsports and Premium Motorsports has been fined a total of $50,000 and has been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR.
Rick Ware Racing’s competition director, Kenneth Evans has also been fined $25,000 and has been suspended by NASCAR for his team’s involvement.
NASCAR says they started their investigation into the matter when several teams expressed concerned that something wasn’t right following the race in Homestead.
Here is the NASCAR Penalty Report, which summarizes the infractions that the teams have been charged with:
RIGHT CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PENALTY REPORT PDF
Spire Motorsports co-owners T.J. Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson released a statement that the team will not appeal their penalties:
“Following the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, NASCAR assessed a penalty against Spire Motorsports for the actions of an individual who made a judgment call on behalf of our team. While the ultimate outcome of that decision can be interpreted from different perspectives, we regret any appearance of operating outside the spirit of the rule book. We accept the penalty and will not appeal. We’re proud of all we accomplished with this team in our first season and look forward to getting back to the business of racing at Daytona in February.”
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