NASCAR announced on Tuesday that the No. 51 NASCAR Camping World Truck of Kyle Busch Motorsports has been penalized for a rule infraction that was found during post-race inspection at Iowa Speedway last weekend. NASCAR fined crew chief Eric Phillips $6,000, penalized driver Erik Jones with the loss of 10 points and car owner Kyle Busch with the loss of 10 owner’s points. Phillips has also been placed on NASCAR probation till December 31st.
The No. 51 truck was found in violation of Section 20B-12.8.1 (truck failed to meet post-race height requirements) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book, which is considered a P2 penalty.
On Friday night at Iowa Speedway, Jones held off Ryan Blaney to score the victory in the American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway. It marks Jones’ first victory of the 2014 season and the second victory of his career in nine career starts. Jones’ win also marked the third straight victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports, following Wallace Jr.’s victory at Gateway and Kyle Busch’s victory a couple weeks ago in Kentucky. It marked the seventh victory overall for KBM this year.
Interestingly, this is the second straight race that the No. 51 team has been found in violation of Section 20B-12.8.1 of the rule book. The first time was at Kentucky following Busch’s win, in which Phillips was fined $5,000 and the team loss six owner’s points.
Tuesday afternoon before the penalty was announced, Jones was asked about violation by the team during the NASCAR media teleconference, in which he commented, “I’m really not too sure what’s going to become of that, but I just drive the trucks at the end of the day and sit on top of what they provide me with.”
About the author
Residing in Canada, she freelances for a number of racing publications, from SpeedwayMedia.com to On Pit Road while covering local short tracks up in Ontario.
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