The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota team was found with an unsecured lug nut after the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday (Oct. 8). Two XFINITY Series crew chiefs were also fined and suspended for ride-height infractions after Saturday’s Drive For the Cure 300.
NASCAR Cup crew chief Scott Graves was fined $10,000 for the infraction, the fourth time he has been fined for the violation. Earlier this year, the No. 19 was found to have a single loose lug nut after the race at Pocono in June, New Hampshire in July and Bristol in August since becoming crew chief for Daniel Suarez on March 29.
Two XFINITY Series teams were also fined, this time for ride-height infractions as post-race height measurements were “outside NASCAR allowed tolerances,” according to NASCAR’s penalty report issued Wednesday (Oct. 11).
No. 19 crew chief Matthew Beckman has been fined $10,000 and suspended for the following XFINITY race at Kansas Speedway (Oct. 21). Driver Matt Tifft has had his ninth-place race finish encumbered from Charlotte. However, his points position and advancement into the playoffs’ round of eight at Kansas has not been affected as Tifft was 16 points ahead of the cutoff line, and the points deduction has been applied to him after the race at Charlotte.
The No. 11 team’s crew chief, Chris Rice, has also been suspended, fined the same amount and driver Blake Koch‘s 25th place finish has been encumbered. Both XFINITY teams have lost 10 driver and owner points as a result.
Additionally, crew member Dennis O’Connor has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR having violated the substance abuse policy.