Bubba Wallace Handed One-Race Suspension Following Las Vegas Incident, Kyle Busch Loses Crew Chief for Rest of 2022

Following last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the sanctioning body has announced a slew of penalties in its weekly penalty report, the most severe of which belongs to Bubba Wallace.

Wallace, the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry TRD, has been suspended for the next NASCAR Cup Series race (Homestead-Miami) for violating sections Sections 4.3.A; 4.4.C & E of the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book.

The Mobile, Alabama-native has been assessed the listed penalties for two reasons, both of which revolve around an accident in the second stage of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

While racing for a position inside the top-10, Kyle Larson made a three-wide move on Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace, which caused the defending series champion to wash up the track, which then forced the No. 45 into the outside wall.

After bouncing off the turn four wall, Wallace then turned sharply left on the front straightaway, right-rearing Larson at 170mph. In the process, the accident critically damaged Christopher Bell, a NASCAR Playoffs contender.

Despite Wallace’s claim that his steering was broken, further investigation of the incident caused NASCAR to determine that the 29-year-old intentionally crashed Larson, in an attempt to deliver retaliation for the wall contact.

The second layer of the penalty comes from the accident’s aftermath, where Wallace walked across the frontstretch – away from his damaged vehicle – in order to find Larson, where he then began shoving the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Just Wallace choosing to walk across the frontstretch is a violation of NASCAR’s ‘On-Track Incident Procedure’ in itself.

On Monday, Wallace released a statement about his involvement in the crash, as well as the aftermath of the incident, which ended with: “You live and learn, and I intend to learn from this.”

No. 18 – Joe Gibbs Racing: Improperly Secured Wheel

Separate from the Wallace-Larson incident on Sunday, NASCAR also handed down a major penalty to Kyle Busch’s No. 18 team, after the Joe Gibbs Racing entry lost a right-front wheel under caution with 40 laps to go.

Ben Beshore (crew chief), Blake Houston (front tire changer), and Derrell Edwards (jackman) have each been suspended for the next four NASCAR Cup Series events, meaning they will not return to competition until next season’s Daytona 500.

Busch, who had to rebound from an early-race spin and the loss of a wheel inside the race’s final 50 laps, rebounded to finish in third place.

No. 51 – Jeremy Clements Racing: Modification of Composite Body

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Jeremy Clements Racing has been handed another massive penalty – the organization’s second in the last seven weeks – which will see crew chief Mark Setzer fined $25,000 and suspended for the next NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

According to NASCAR’s Penalty Report, Jeremy Clements Racing violated Section 14.4.B.E of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book, which cites that “Flange Fit Composite Bod(ies) must be used as supplied from the manufacturer without modification.”

On top of the fine and one-race suspension, the organization has been assessed with the loss of 40 driver points and 40 owner points.

No. 54 – Ty Gibbs: Lug Nut(s) Not Properly Installed

Additionally in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage, Chris Gayle has been fined $5,000 after it was discovered that the No. 54 Toyota GR Supra – driven by Ty Gibbs – had one lug nut not safely secured following Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302.

Andrew Abbott: Reinstated by NASCAR

Andrew Abbott – who had been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR on October 5 – has completed the necessary steps to be reinstated by the sanctioning body, which required the Young’s Motorsports crew chief to complete anger management training.