Kyle Larson’s crumpled rear window from Kansas came back to bite him this week. NASCAR’s Penalty Report, released Tuesday (May 15) hit Larson’s No. 42 team with an L1 violation for broken rear window support braces. The pieces caved in during Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, becoming more noticeable after a wreck with rival Ryan Blaney.
Hell of a show @KyleLarsonRacin put on tonight. Here are a couple pictures of KL’s rear window during the race before car was damaged in incident with the 12. @jeff_gluck @bobpockrass @dustinlong @JennaFryer @GanassiChip pic.twitter.com/ZCCcwGgiH5
— Kyle Larson Updates (@42_updates) May 13, 2018
Following the incident, Larson’s team was protective of the car in post-race. The driver claimed in-race contact caused the damage as media members were discouraged from taking photos.
NASCAR didn’t buy that explanation, docking Larson 20 driver points and Chip Ganassi Racing 20 owner points. Car chief David Bryant has been suspended the next three weeks while crew chief Chad Johnston was fined $50,000. That includes Saturday’s Monster Energy All-Star Race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and Pocono’s MENCS race held the first weekend in June.
The official rule violated was Sections 20.4.h Body and also 20.4.8.1 b&c: Rear Window Support and Structure. Larson was docked for not having the rear window flush to the decklid with braces keeping the glass rigid in all directions.
In an interview with NASCAR.com, Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller claimed the flurry of rear window penalties needs to stop. Several teams, from Kevin Harvick to Chase Elliott have been docked for the infraction in recent months.
“What we plan on doing is, moving forward, any of these rear window penalties, we’re probably going to ramp it up to the high end of the L1 scale,” Miller said. “We’ve kind of been in the middle and if we need to ramp it up further than that to where we get this under control and stop (this), then we’re prepared to go further. So yeah, we will change our stance on this because this needs to stop.”
In an interview with SIRIUS XM Radio, Miller claimed the punishment could be 40 points and a three-race car chief suspension going forward. L1 penalties provide for a range of up to a 40-point deduction.
Joey Logano was also mentioned on the MENCS penalty report. A loose lugnut improperly installed led to a $10,000 fine for crew chief Todd Gordon.
No Camping World Truck Series teams were listed in this week’s report.
About the author
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
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Take away the money too!
If that’s the case then Chad Knauss should thrown out of NASCAR years ago.