On Wednesday, NASCAR released their weekly penalty report. It contained a wide assortment of warnings, but one graded penalty as well.
Brad Keselowski‘s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford flunked the post-race laser inspection on Sunday at Michigan. It is a penalty that has happened multiple times recently.
NASCAR ended up assessing the No. 2 team a P2-level penalty. As a result, ten driver points have been docked from Keselowski and ten owner points from Team Penske. In addition, crew chief Paul Wolfe was fined $15,000. Also, just to add insult to injury, the No. 2 also failed the pre-race laser inspection twice. That earned the team a warning.
Team Penske’s No. 2 was just one of the teams that were warned for failing the pre-race laser inspection. Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 7 for Regan Smith flunked twice, as did Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 for Ryan Newman and the Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing No. 95 for Michael McDowell. These teams also earned warnings.
McDowell’s No. 95, along with The Motorsport Group’s No. 30 for Josh Wise earned warnings for failing the pre-qualifying laser inspection three times. As a result, they both lost 15 minutes of practice time. McDowell served the penalty in Michigan, but Wise will miss 15 minutes of practice in Darlington.
Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 for Kasey Kahne and No. 24 for Chase Elliott, along with HScott Motorsports’ No. 46 for Michael Annett failed the pre-qualifying laser inspection twice on Friday. They were all given warnings.
Finally, Smith, Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ Kyle Larson all failed the pre-qualifying template inspection twice and were warned for it. Smith will lose pit selection in Darlington. Bayne reached four warnings as a result of this infraction as well, but gave up his pit selection in Michigan.
In the XFINITY Series, only one warning was issued as opposed to the 12 for Sprint Cup in Michigan. Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 for Owen Kelly was hit with a warning for failing the pre-race laser inspection twice at Road America.
Finally, in the Camping World Truck Series, GMS Racing’s Spencer Gallagher was fined $5,000 for approaching the racing surface on Saturday. This occurred after Gallagher crashed out of the race and was concerned for the condition of Christopher Bell. Gallagher sprinted up to where Bell’s truck stopped, then went to the ambulance to check on Bell’s condition.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.