NASCAR has issued L1 penalties to the No. 24 and No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series teams following the further inspection of both cars, which were used at Richmond Raceway, at the NASCAR R&D Center this week.
NASCAR released the news of the penalties in its weekly post-race penalty report on Thursday.
The two cars, which just had 100 driver points, 100 owner points, and 10 playoff points restored after an appeal of L2 penalties stemming from modified hood louvers at Phoenix Raceway, will now be docked 60 driver points, 60 owner points, and 5 playoff points each for this latest infraction.
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Additionally, the teams will be fined $75,000 each and crew chiefs Brian Campe and Greg Ives will be suspended for two NASCAR Cup Series events beginning after this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
According to NASCAR’s penalty report, the No. 24 and 48 teams were found to be in violation of sections 14.1 D (Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules), 14.1.2.B (Engineering Change Log) and 14.5.6.B (Greenhouse) of the NASCAR Cup Series rulebook.
Both teams are still in the middle of having their primary crew chiefs Rudy Fugle and Blake Harris serve four-race suspensions from Phoenix. Fugle and Harris are eligible to return to the pit box after this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports released a statement in the form of a tweet following the news of the penalties. The statement reads, “We are reviewing the penalties issued today by NASCAR and will determine next steps following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.”
We are reviewing the penalties issued today by NASCAR and will determine next steps following Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. https://t.co/NHJUKEknSe
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) April 6, 2023
The latest penalties will knock Alex Bowman from the lead of the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings to seventh in points. The No. 48 team will also drop from the lead of the NASCAR Cup Series owner championship standings to seventh.
William Byron will drop from fourth in the standings to 14th, while the No. 24 team will also drop to 14th in the owner standings.
Additional Penalties
In addition to the Hendrick Motorsports penalties on the NASCAR Cup Series side of things, NASCAR also handed out three L1 penalties to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams following this past weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The No. 2 Rev Racing team, the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team and the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports team were all found to be in violation of sections 14.3.3.3.2.C (Engine Oil Reservoir Tank Encasement), 14.9.3.2 C&G (Engine Oil Reservoir Tank) and 14.9.A (Assembled Vehicle Overall Rules).
As a result of these infractions, all three teams have been docked 10 championship owner points, and Nick Sanchez, Chase Purdy and Jack Wood have all been docked 10 championship driver points.
In addition to the three L1 penalties in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, two NASCAR members have been handed indefinite suspensions by the sanctioning body for violating the sport’s substance abuse policy.
Jeff Shoaf and Ronnell Wilson are the two members that were listed as being in violation of sections 4.1 & 10.1A of the NASCAR Rule Book.
