Chris Buescher and RFK Racing’s No. 17 team in the NASCAR Cup Series were assessed L1-level penalties following last weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR announced May 15.
Among them: Buescher was docked 60 season points plus five playoff points, while the team received the same penalty toward its own championship standings.
The team was given a $75,000 fine, and crew chief Scott Graves has been suspended for two races.
The penalties stem from a postrace inspection issue in which Buescher’s No. 17 was found to have exceeded the maximum reinforcement allowed for Cup cars’ front bumper covers.
As a result, Buescher falls out of the top 16 in points; after an eighth-place finish at Kansas, he was 12th in the standings.
The team addressed the penalty later on May 15, saying it acknowledged the argument and that “we remain committed to full compliance with NASCAR’s rules. At this time, we are carefully reviewing the details of the situation to determine if we will file an appeal within the timeframe allotted.”
Doug Randolph will be Buescher’s crew chief this weekend in the All-Star Race.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
NASCAR is truly brain dead. Hey, we’re stuck with a bad product, let’s nit pick our way to extinction. FIX THE RACING GUYS!!’
did it not pass initial inspection? i swear nascar has it out for this team.
I’m being told pre-race inspection is not as strict as tear-down inspection in post-race. NASCAR doesn’t have the time to tear-down every car before the race, so they take a few cars after the race at random. They got caught this time.
If they are not so strict in pre-race inspection then why are so many crew chiefs penalized and cars sent to the rear. Maybe the inspector are missing things and maybe some of them need to be fined.
hendricknascar gathering funds for their season ending awards banquet gala !