As expected, two pit crew members for the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB NASCAR Cup Series team have been handed a two-race suspension by the sanctioning body following the separation of a right front wheel on Lap 69 of last Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
John Rosselli (Front Changer) and Kellen Mills (Jackman) are the two members of the team, who will not be permitted to compete alongside their teammates this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway and next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. The crew members will be eligible to return for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 10.
The team has added Bryan Backus to serve in place of Rosselli, and Matt Wilps to take over the Jackman duties this weekend in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, according to the NASCAR Roster Portal.
Jones was assessed a two-lap penalty following the detached wheel on Lap 69 at Las Vegas. The driver of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE would finish 25th after the pit road issues.
The post-Las Vegas penalty is the latest snag in a season that has been filled with them for Jones, and the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. Jones missed two races earlier this year after a vicious crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Jones suffered a compression fracture of a lower vertebra in that impact. Through the opening 33 races of the 2024 campaign, Jones sits 32nd in the championship standings (career-worst points finish was 27th in 2023).
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s No. 43 team has just one top-five finish and two top-10s this season.
In addition to the sanctions for the No. 43 NASCAR Cup Series pit crew, NASCAR has issued monetary fines for three NASCAR Xfinity Series crew chiefs for unsecured lugnuts in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas.
Jonathan Toney, crew chief of Cole Custer and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing team, Shane Whitbeck, crew chief of Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing team, and Kevin Johnson, crew chief of Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 38 RSS Racing team, have each been fined $5,000.
