A pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series teams have been assessed an L1-level penalty for infractions stemming from last weekend’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, the sanctioning body confirmed in its weekly penalty report on Tuesday.
Jordan Anderson Racing (No. 87) and Viking Motorsports (No. 99) were found to be in violation of Section 14.4.A and 14.4.11.C&D of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book, which specifically refers to the rear-bumper covers.
Drivers Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Green have been docked 20 points and 5 playoff points, while the Viking Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing teams will be docked 20 owner points, 5 playoff points, and be required to pay a $25,000 fine.
DiBenedetto, driving the No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet, finished Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 in a career-best fifth-place, the first-ever top-five in the second-tier series for the Grass Valley, California-native. This penalty does not impact his finishing position.
On the other hand, Austin Green, driving the No. 87 OVERPLAY Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, failed to qualify for Saturday’s event, making an already devastating blow even more devastating when it comes to the point standings.
For DiBenedetto, the 20-point loss does not impact his points position, but drops him 25 points further below the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs cutline. Green falls from 48th to outside the top-60, and will head to his next race in the negatives when it comes to point standings.
There were no other penalties from the race weekend, and the Kyle Larson and Josh Berry entries that returned to the NASCAR R&D Center for further inspection came back completely legal, and without a single penalty to distribute.
