NASCAR announced a slew of penalties on Tuesday, April 1, spanning all three of NASCAR’s main touring series.
The heftiest penalty was toward JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith, who has been docked 50 points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers standings and fined $25,000, following the end of Saturday’s (March 29) Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
The penalty stems from a last-lap incident where Smith, who was running second, dove into the bumper of Joe Gibbs Racing driver Taylor Gray‘s No. 54 car, initiating a multi-car crash on the frontstretch of the racetrack. Smith finished the race 10th, and Gray dropped back to 29th.
Following the penalty, Smith will drop from sixth to 13th in the Xfinity standings, which places him just outside of a playoff spot as it currently stands.
Gray and Jordan Anderson Racing driver Jeb Burton were also fined $5,000 for behavioral penalties for conduct in the infield care center. Burton finished 11th Saturday after also being caught up in the last-lap crash.
On the NASCAR Cup Series side, NASCAR suspended two pit crew members of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing car driven by Shane van Gisbergen. The penalty stems from an incident where the No. 88 lost a wheel after leaving the pits on Sunday. The pit crew members are suspended for two races, starting with the next Cup Series event at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, April 6.
NASCAR also handed down penalties to the No. 00 Haas Factory Team car driven by Sheldon Creed in the Xfinity Series and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports truck driven by Rajah Caruth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series due to each team having a loose lug nut. The No. 00 Xfinity team was fined $5,000, and No. 71’s truck team was fined $2,500.
Logan Kendall joined the Frontstretch team in 2025 as the Tuesday News Writer and fills in other roles as needed. He resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York and spends his free time writing as a hobby creatively and is a self published author.
Logan can be found on X @LoganKendall48