UPDATE: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB says that Joey Cohen, Vice President of Race Operations will serve as the interim crew chief of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro at Sonoma Raceway.
“We have been diligently working with NASCAR regarding the penalty and are working internally to determine the course of action in response,” stated Cohen. “We will announce that decision within the timeframe determined by the NASCAR Rule Book.”
Another week, another post-race NASCAR R&D Center penalty. On Wednesday, NASCAR issued an L1-level penalty to the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team due to a modification of the greenhouse area of the car in this past weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.
Crew chief Dave Elenz has been fined $75,000 and has been suspended from the next two NASCAR Cup Series championship events. The No. 43 team has been docked 60 championship owner points, driver Erik Jones has been docked 60 championship driver points, and both the team and Jones have had five Playoff points deducted.
The points penalty drops Jones and the No. 43 team from 26th in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series driver and owner standings to 30th.
According to the weekly NASCAR Penalty Report, the No. 43 team was found to be in violation of Sections 14.1.C&D, which pertains to Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules, and 14.1.2.B, which pertains to Engineering Change Logs.
Jones and the No. 43 team started 31st and finished 18th this past weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Also included on the penalty report were a couple of infractions for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams at Gateway.
Charles Denike, the crew chief of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team has been fined $2,500 for one lug nut being improperly installed on the truck in post-race inspection.
The No. 02 Young’s Motorsports team was busted for a safety violation pertaining to the truck’s window net. According to the penalty report, the No. 02 team violated Sections 10.5.1A and 14.2.3.3.1 B&C of the rule book.
Young’s Motorsports crew chief Andrew Abbott has been fined $5,000 for the infraction, and the No. 02 truck and its driver Chris Hacker have had 25 points deducted from their totals.
